Evian Thonon Gaillard vs Saint-Etienne preview - Perrin demands winning finish

Posted Friday, May 15, 2015 by PA

St Etienne remain in the hunt for Champions League football and captain Loic Perrin is demanding two more wins to keep up the pressure.

Les Verts sit fifth in the standings, just two points off third-placed Monaco, as the Ligue 1 campaign draws to a close.

Marseille sit between them and Perrin says usurping them is the bare minimum after finishing fourth last season.

However, third would bring with it Champions League football and the defender wants to keep up the pressure by winning at struggling Evian this weekend.

"The goal is to do at least as well as last season," Perrin told Onzeo.

"We will try to take the six points that are still available. The goal is to finish as high as possible.

"Third place is only two points away and we must be ambitious even though we do not have our fate in our hands."

A home match with Guingamp follows the trip to Evian - a match St Etienne approach buoyed by last week's 5-0 thrashing of Nice.

"It was a big success to win," Perrin, who opened the scoring, said. "On Sunday we found our value and we enjoyed playing.

"The group was aware of the bad loss (to Bastia the week before) and we had to regroup."

While St Etienne compete at the top, Evian are deep in the mire and defeat at the Parc des Sports would consign them to relegation.

Evian manager Pascal Dupraz said: "If the cause of our last bad results at home is fear - playing with the handbrake on and thinking about the consequences - I want to advise my players not to think.

"I want them to give everything they have, but also to stay focused and vigilant."