Patrick Vieira had mixed emotions after the draw with Rennes as he was happy with his team but disappointed with the meagre reward for their efforts.

Patrick, do you have any regrets after that game?
Yes, there are a lot of regrets, particularly in relation to our first half where we were dangerous but weren't clinical in the penalty area. We could have opened the scoring a lot earlier. There are also regrets that we didn't score the second goal that would have taken the pressure off us. Against a team of the calibre of Rennes, anything is possible at the end of the game if you haven't given yourself margin for error.

The first half was a high quality half though…
Yes, it was like what we have done in recent weeks: focussed, committed. It was a good performance tonight, but I'm frustrated, because we had a chance to take all three points. The attitude was there.

Are the difficulties the team had in the second half due to drop in tempo physically?
I think that, quite simply, Rennes had taken the upper hand in the match. After scoring, we put ourselves in danger and lost a little confidence. Rennes settled things down and stopped us from playing the ball out cleanly from the back. Paradoxically, our goal hurt us a bit psychologically. How can I explain that? It's our lack of experience, our youth. It's a shame, but a point is still encouraging. There were a lot of positives. The players linked up well, it was a good football match.

Do you need to improve in how you handle games?
Yes, it's that psychological side of things. We want to do things well, but as we are leading, we stop playing and defend a bit too much. I could have perhaps changed something before too, but I was very happy with the team's set-up.

Before you conceded, possession had been lost dangerously a few times …
Yes, but those are risks I'm willing to take. Our game is based on building from the back. There were times it worked well, but we caused ourselves problems, yes. The problem is that it played on our confidence, and we spent more time defending. This game is going to make us grow.

You spoke about it after the last game that your attacking players are linking up better and better…
Alexis [Claude-Maurice], he always plays forward when he gets the ball. That enables us to find space. He has a good understanding with Adam [Ounas], it's not perfect, but it's a good start. I thought Myziane was good in terms of his attitude and his defensive work, even if he could have done better in finishing certain moves. He has the basics in terms of commitment, the quality will come. Pierre [Lees-Melou] got an assist, and as for Kasper [Dolberg], it's always good for strikers to score. Aside from his goal, he got through an enormous amount of work for the team.

A word on Danilo, who you played in central defence again despite players coming back from injury…
I thought he looked focussed, disciplined, intelligent, just as he is as a person. He's reliable, regardless of the position he'll always put in the same effort. He's a remarkable guy. He can defend, go forward, and play between the lines. He needs confidence, and I hope his recent performances will give him that. It's the first time that we had put that tactical system in place, and we had time to work on it this week. I'm disappointed for the players, who deserved to take three points for all the work they've done in training.

The two points that were missed out on stop you moving into the business end of the table…
Yes, we could have moved up the table a lot. It's a shame, but there are a lot of matches left and it's encouraging. There's a lot of points to be taken. The cup, on Thursday, that's important of course because we want to go far, but our season, good or not, will not come down to these two matches with Lyon.

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