The Aiglons coach felt that his side’s win was deserved, but refuses to look any further than the next match against Strasbourg.

Lucien, how do you analyse this match?

It was a small victory, but deserved on the balance of the game. We didn’t have the choice with the results we have had in the last two weeks. We needed to win. We took the risks when necessary. But we didn’t break into their box enough, and then we scored from 25 metres. We were able to stay in the game without confusing things. In the end, Montpellier had very few chances.

Pierre Lees-Melou said to us that he needed to be more efficient in front of goal…

There is no point in him putting unnecessary pressure on himself. He works, he is useful for the squad. He works on his shooting in training, and he is rewarded for that with this nice goal. Pierre took the right risk, it was too tight, he couldn’t break into the box. In general, we didn’t break past the opposition defence enough.

Your team rarely shoots from distance…

But we have players who are capable of shooting from 25m. It’s something that is very important, when it’s tight in the box, it’s a solution. And it’s spectacular too.

You will be playing 3 of your final 4 games on the road…

I am not looking any further than Strasbourg. I am honest with you. I know the fixtures that follow, it’s a huge run-in. But Strasbourg are also a big challenge, we are concentrating on that.

You break into the top five for the first time this season, at the business end of the year!

We were 19th in November. You can’t forget where we have come back from. In this ‘peloton’ for Europe, it’s very close. We lead the group for the moment, but it continues, there is a month still to go in the league. All of our opponents in the coming games have something to play for, because it is very tight in this league, which is rare in a league with 20 teams when you are so close to the end of the season.

The difference between fifth place, which should qualify for the group stage, and sixth place, meaning three qualifying rounds, is huge. Is it something you have spoken about?

No, not at all, you can’t drift. We know, of course, but we are focussed on what we need to do.

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