Saint-Etienne vs Stade Rennais FC preview - Montanier demanding better at back

Posted Saturday, August 23, 2014 by PA

Rennes coach Philippe Montanier has warned his defence they will have to do much better at St Etienne on Sunday against a team he believes could be fighting it out for the Ligue 1 title come the end of the season.

ASSE have won their opening two fixtures of the campaign - against Guingamp and Reims - and join Bordeaux as the only sides in the competition with 100 per cent records.

Rennes recovered from their opening-day defeat at Lyon with a 6-2 thrashing of Evian last weekend, but Montanier is keen to cut out the defensive lapses which blighted both performances.

"St Etienne are a particularly attacking team on home soil," he told Rennes' official website. "It is one of the biggest fixtures in the league and obviously we expect a tough game.

"They will be hard to beat and are among the contenders (for the title).

"We have conceded four goals so far and I'm not going to accept that. It is necessary that we are able to defend all together as a unit."

St Etienne were distracted from their impressive start to Ligue 1 by a midweek defeat to Turkish side Karabukspor in the opening leg of the Europa League play-offs.

Yet coach Christophe Galtier does not think his players should be too disappointed with the result.

"We won't freak out about this defeat. We will keep a cool head, although it is clear we have to do better," he told Les Echos.

"But we don't have this kind of match in our league, or very few anyway. I told the players that no matter who the opponent is, there is not a Ligue 1 match that resembles the Europa League. This was a tough match but not something we should fret over."

Rennes will make the trip to St Etienne without injured duo Andre Benjamin (thigh) and Axel Ngando (ankle).