Lille vs Bordeaux preview - Corchia eyes progress with Lille

Posted Saturday, April 18, 2015 by PA

Rio Mavuba may be eyeing the Lille exit door - but team-mate Sebastien Corchia sees the club as the perfect one to help him achieve his international ambitions.

Midfielder Mavuba revealed before the match against Bordeaux that he is "thinking of a probable departure" when his contract expires in the summer - and opening the door to a return to Les Girondins, his first professional club.

But full-back Corchia, by contrast, is more than happy with his progress at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy and alluded to a "pre-selection" for France.

"I am working to earn an international place," he told L'Equipe.

"You have to be consistent. I am very happy to be at LOSC. I do not regret at all my choice to be here."

Last week's 1-0 win at Evian continued Lille's dramatic improvement in the second half of the season - and with six matches left, they are chasing a sixth victory in seven.

Rene Girard's team still lag seven points behind sixth-placed Bordeaux before this weekend's fixture at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Willy Sagnol's Bordeaux made a splash last week with a 1-0 home victory over title-chasing Marseille.

If they can double up on the road against Lille, they still have prospects of a late charge into Champions League contention.

But they will have to do so with an injury list which sees Isaac Kiese Thelin join Cheikh Diabate, Thomas Toure and Jussie on the sidelines.

Lille have doubts over David Rozenhal (knee) and Jonathan Delaplace (calf) and will be without Franck Beria, Marvin Martin, Michael Frey and Adama Soumaoro.

Les Dogues have made a virtue of solid defence this season, with a string of clean sheets.

Should they need some inspiration further up the field, though, it will surely not go amiss to hear confirmation that Eden Hazard - whose 12 goals from midfield have helped put Chelsea at the top of the Barclays Premier League - still has a soft spot for the team with whom he first made his name.

The Belgium international said on Lille's official TV channel: "For the moment, I'm good at Chelsea. I have always said I want to stay there and win as many trophies as possible, but we'll see after that.

"But it's true that if I come back to France, I have always said I would come to Lille. Perhaps one day I'll come back, I don't know."