Satisfied by OM’s conduct in Lyon, the OM defensive midfielder expects the same strength of character and high spirits on Saturday against Nice. “We told ourselves we would go there looking for a third-place finish, which means we have to win,” he says.

Lorik, against Nice you’ll need to show the same spirit you did against Lyon…
Yes, because the match will be played at home and it’s been three matches since we won at home, including the draws against Paris and Nantes and the defeat to Lens. So we absolutely have to win to continue our march forwards and to achieve our objectives. But to beat Nice we’ll have to display the character and spirit we showed against Lyon.

What’s your opinion on this OGC Nice side?
They caused us some real problems when we met in the first half of the season. Right now, they are battling relegation and they won’t give up until the very last moment. Also, we know that every time we’ve played a team in their situation, we’ve had problems and it’s been tough for us. And then Nice also has real quality and will come to play us with a strong defensive base and attack on the counter. So we have to be very solid and score as fast as possible in order to avoid taking risks later on.

The Niçois have been going better in the last few matches and have climbed out of the relegation zone. Will they play more freely against you?
They’re not far from the relegation zone and as such they can’t afford to take too many risks. Despite everything, we will face a team battling to avoid relegation so we have to quickly lay down the law on our home turf. It’ll be tough but we have to know what we want. We told ourselves we would go there looking for a third-place finish, which means we have to win. It’ll be exactly the same for the five remaining home games of the season. Our commitment cannot waver.