In his post-match press conference, Lucien Favre analysed his team's win as 'calm and patient' - just what they had lacked against Caen in the previous round.

Lucien, what do you make of this win?

We struggled at times. We lost the ball and it led to danger a couple of times. They could have been more effective and they could have scored. It could have cost us dearly. Overall, I think we deserved to win.

Do you think you sent Ligue 1 a message with this win?

No. We just play; that's it. We try to defend too. That's what we tried to do all the way through this match. We could have scored again to make it 2-0, but we mustn't forget that at 0-0 they had a very clear-cut chance with Roux's point-blank header. Had they scored then, it would have been very tough for us to stay patient against a side who are that well organised and that tough to move around.

Still, there was the feeling that coming here and getting the win will have a big effect...

Our motivation is to take each match as it comes. We don't think about the rest of it all that much. Looing at the table is nice, of course, but we're only 13 weeks into the season. Let's see where we are at Christmas time. Before then, we have nine matches to play in the space of 30 days, and it's important that we focus on that and get it right. We're concentrating on our play. We can improve; we have to try to make progress both individually and as a team. Otherwise we wouldn't be an elite sporting group. But we know that you can't just become the best team overnight; it takes time.

Did seeing Saint-Etienne play in a 5-3-2 at home indicate to you that Nice are striking fear into their opponents?

No, I don't think so. They have played in that system before, it's not because they were scared. More and more teams are starting to use that shape. Yesterday I saw Bayern in a 5-4-1 against Dortmund. Chelsea play in a 5-2-3. As I have already said, the best thing is to have a system that corresponds to your footballing philosophy.

Is there a special flavour to this win that comes after an international break, which itself was preceded by a defeat?

It's always tough to play just before of just after a two-week break with no matches at all. Every match plays out on small details. We equalised in Montpellier in the 88th minute. When we played Lorient they hit the bar and then we scored right afterwards… there have been three or four matches so far that have been very tight affairs. In Caen they scored from a half-chance and we hit the post in the second half. In the French league, every match is tough. We know that, and we know it has been tough wherever we have gone. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes not; that's part of sport.

After Caen, you asked your players for more patience when getting forward and constructing moves. Did you feel that it was there tonight?

Yes. You need to play clinically. Especially against a side who sit back in a 5-3-2. We were patient and we found the angles to work with. I thought we were pretty calm.

This win gives you a bit of breathing space ahead of the trip to face Schalke…

There was no reason for us to lose our cool just because we lost a couple of matches. As I told you, we have won certain matches that perhaps we should have lost. You need to put the results into perspective: it remains a sport, with an element of uncertainty.

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