“Our way of playing will bear fruit”

Defeated at Dunkirk (1-0) last Monday in the league, AC Ajaccio will try to bounce back this Tuesday evening against SC Bastia, for this late match resumption counting for the 10th day of Ligue 2. The Ajaccians have to to make amends after an insipid match in the North the previous week. Mathieu Chabert, the Ajaccian coach : “We had put a game system in place that we were unable to maintain. We worked a lot with video sessions this week to improve all of this. The image we remember from this match in Dunkirk is that of a meeting where we can take five but we must not forget that Ibayi has a one-on-one in the first five minutes. Then we came up against a Dunkirk team, who are currently among the best in the championship, if not the best, and who managed to break our pressing but it didn't amount to much. We conceded a lot of chances, but only in this match. We had a bad first half but we were better in the second half until the expulsion. Afterwards, obviously you want to equalize and you expose yourself, that's football. Sollacaro had an exceptional match but at 0-0, obviously we wouldn't have played like that, we had to discover ourselves and Dunkirk took advantage of it.”

A jump in the rankings in the event of victory in the derby

Stuck at 16^e place in the ranking with 14 small points, AC Ajaccio has no other choice but to win and could even move up to 11^e place in the company of his evening opponent, in case of success tomorrow evening. During the first part of the match, the Ajaccians were pushed around and could be happy not to have conceded a goal: “Today, we must resume the match at the 42^e minute, we prepared for this. We worked on certain scenarios. During the first part of the match, on October 26, we were happy to return to the locker room without conceding any goals. Today is a chance to be able to resume this match in different conditions. This match remains a home match and a derby and we will do everything we can to win it. We are aware of our situation. The group is 100% invested in achieving this. We work well. Today, we are talking about a 14-point situation, but if we are not robbed in Caen or Amiens, we would have at least two more points and we would not have the same speech. We don't lower our heads and we know that it will pay off in the end. We are all convinced in the club that this way of playing will bear fruit.”

AC Ajaccio will only be able to call 17 players

If the location of the meeting between AC Ajaccio and SC Bastia has not been changed, the conditions will be different than during the initial match in terms of public reception. Following the incidents that occurred on October 26, the Disciplinary Commission took the decision to close the Michel-Moretti stadium for a match. A sanction which will be served when the meeting between the two clubs resumes. The derby will resume in the 42nd minute, with the score 0-0, without pre-match protocol and with a dropped ball in favor of SC Bastia, who was initially in possession of the ball. If a change of sides remains planned after the 45th minute, there will, however, be no return to the locker room. The players are invited to take a brief break given the very little playing time remaining in the first period. If the two teams will have to resume relying on the players registered on the match sheet for October 26, adjustments still remain possible.

A club can thus replace a player present on the initial match sheet, if he is unavailable due to an injury, noted and assessed by a national federal doctor. The substitute must be a qualified player in the club on the initial date of the match and absent from the match sheet. This possibility is limited to 1 field player and 1 goalkeeper. Restrictions which will force Mathieu Chabert and his staff to only be able to call a group of 17 and not 18, Jabol and Mangani, being injured, only Kanté will therefore be able to compensate for these absences.

The Ajaccio group faces Bastia
Sollacaro, Quilicchini, Vidal, Bamba, Ayessa, Youssouf, Strata, Huard, Puch, Barreto, Anziani, Kanté, Ibayi, Ben Touré, Soumano, Coutinho, Everson