Russia vs France - Deschamps unfazed by defeat to Colombia ahead of Russia friendly

Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2018 by PA

Didier Deschamps will not allow France’s shock defeat to Colombia to affect his World Cup preparations.

Les Bleus let a two-goal lead slip away as they lost 3-2 to the South American side on Friday, with Juan Quintero’s late penalty proving decisive.

That could easily have put more onus on the result of Tuesday’s game away to World Cup hosts Russia, but Deschamps insists he will continue to use the game to assess the options in his squad.

“I am not thinking about the defeat, we have a new match to look forward to,” he said at a pre-match press conference reported live by Radio Monte Carlo.

“Now is the time to give playing time to those who have not had it, ahead of the final decisions. I will not change my approach due to Friday’s result.

“As always, there will be debates over players and positions. Everyone who is there has the chance to play. I want to put as many players as possible in game situations.”

Marseille’s in-form playmaker Florian Thauvin has been forced to pull out of the game with a hamstring problem, while Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has missed training time with an ankle problem.

Defender Laurent Koscielny expects a tough test from Russia and said: “They are very compact and do not give much space to their opponents, and they have good attacking players.”

Deschamps added: “It is a little taste of Russia before staying there for a few long weeks, I hope.”

Russia also go into the game on the back of a defeat, 3-0 to Brazil, and coach Stanislav Cherchesov has called for his side to “redeem themselves”.

“The defeat did not make us very happy and we held a little meeting,” Cherchesov told AFP.

“Tomorrow we have a chance to redeem ourselves. We want to show much better quality against France.”

Cherchesov will be unable to call on midfielders Daler Kuzyayev and Roman Zobin and defender Ruslan Kambolov, who have all returned to their respective clubs with injuries.

All three are expected to be fit for this summer’s tournament but Kambolov’s short-term absence adds to a central defensive crisis, with Viktor Vasin and Georgi Dzhikiya both having torn knee ligaments this year and long-term options Sergei Ignashevich and twins Vasili and Aleksei Berezutskiy all retired.

Andrei Lunev is set to start in goal against France rather than Igor Akinfeev, who excelled against Brazil.