Mathieu Valbuena discusses his impressions after his first start for OM, at the Stade Vélodrome.

How did you enjoy your first start, against Nice?
I’m happy. It ended in a win. I think that’s the most important thing. Personally, I felt good, it had been a long time since I played a full match. Now, as I said, I can do more and play better; quite simply because I’m not yet 100%. The more I play the better I’ll get.

Have the minutes you’ve played at the end of recent games given you a chance to adapt to L1?
Absolutely. The manager wanted to introduce me gradually to this level of football. He knew what he was doing. It gave me a chance to watch and observe. Now I’m not going to stop just because I started one match. I’m going to keep working hard and climb up level by level. The manager’s instruction was to dare, and I managed to do it on and off throughout the match. Physically I can be better, though. With more matches, my capacity to keep going at a high level will improve.

Is it easier to play in the midfield alongside such technical players as Samir Nasri?
I feel good with all of them, be it Samir, Mamadou or Djibril. We’ll string the games together and before we know it we’ll be finding each other with ease.