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Lyon not looking past Nice

Fri 26th, February 2010

Lyon, France (Sports Network) - Lyon continues its push towards the top of Ligue 1 on Saturday when the club hosts relegation-battling Nice, but manager Claude Puel knows that his team must be careful not to look too far ahead.

Puel saw his team suffer a heavy 4-1 defeat at Nice in October after the club recorded a big win over Liverpool in the Champions League, and with Lyon sitting in fourth place in the Ligue 1 table, five points back of Bordeaux, Puel is cautioning his players to be careful.

"This match is very important, we have to be careful," Puel told the club's official website.

"In Nice, we fell apart very quickly as we didn't have the mental strength after our victory over Liverpool. After this match against Nice, there will be the international matches.

"There are some former Lyon players at Nice. They have nothing to lose and will be motivated. But everything depends on us."

Lyon must stay focused ahead of the return leg at Real Madrid following their 1-0 victory over the Spanish side in the first leg, and they will be missing a pair of defenders for Saturday's game with Francois Clerc and Anderson Cleber both out through injury.

Nice enters the weekend in a different state of mind as they are just one place above the relegation zone and have won only twice in 13 away matches this season.

A 1-0 win over Lorient last time out snapped an 11-game winless streak for the club, and it also raised spirits in the dressing room with the team now believing that it can hold onto it's six-point cushion to remain in the top flight.

"We had waited a long time for that," striker Mamadou Bagayoko told the club's website about the win last weekend.

"The team raised themselves, the situation was difficult and we absolutely had to win.

"There are still 13 matches to go and the teams behind us will not give up, but with the quality we have and our support, it can end well."

Leaders Bordeaux enter the weekend with a three-point lead and a game in hand on second-placed Montpellier, and they will visit Le Mans on Sunday, while Montpellier plays host to Rennes on Saturday.

Lille is just four points off the pace and they host Auxerre, Boulogne invades Monaco, Grenoble travels to Nancy, Sochaux squares off with Lorient, Toulouse entertains Lens, Valenciennes faces St Etienne and Marseille meets up with PSG at the Parc des Princes.