Nice vs Evian Thonon Gaillard preview - Abdallah sets survival target

Posted Saturday, April 04, 2015 by PA

Evian defender Kassim Abdallah believes seven points from their remaining eight games will be enough to avoid relegation from Ligue 1 this season.

An excellent victory over Montpellier last time out has lifted Evian to 35 points and 16th in the table but Pascal Dupraz's side are still only three points above the bottom three.

Evian visit 12th-placed Nice on Saturday and Abdallah has warned his team-mates the relegation fight is far from over.

"How many points do we need? I think 42. It will be complicated, nobody is going to give up," Abdallah told Evian's official website.

"We have to be ready because nothing is settled yet. We have to pick up points away from home and take maximum points at home.

"We know this Nice game is very important."

Nice halted a four-match losing run with a shock 2-1 win at title challengers Lyon before the international break and they can climb into the top half of the table with a win on Saturday.

"Nice are a team that play very good attacking football," Abdallah said.

"We'll have to be tough at the back. I saw their match against Lyon, they played very well there.

"They defended well and created so many opportunities that they were able to score.

"It will be very difficult for us to get a result against them."

Nice manager Claude Puel was delighted with his side's display against Lyon but has challenged his players to show the same level of urgency against a side lower down the table this weekend.

"Our motivation is the same whether we play the big teams or smaller teams," Puel told OGCNice.com.

"We are still searching for consistency - we are trying to approach the games with the same quality and the same concentration."