OGC Nice resort to desperate measures in training amid injury crisis | OneFootball

OGC Nice have contended with injuries to key players throughout the campaign, however, the situation has deteriorated yet further in recent days. Ahead of the UEFA Europa League encounter against Rangers, Franck Haise complained of having only 13 or 14 professional players at his disposal. Over the course of the 4-1 defeat to the Scottish side, this situation worsened yet again.

“I am without 12 players and then 13 from the 15-minute mark (after Youssouf Ndayishimiye’s injury). It is too much for us. I didn’t manage to rotate my team. I had two or three pros on the bench with certain problems,” said the Nice manager, referencing Mohamed-Ali Cho, Evann Guessand, and Tanguy Ndombélé, all of whom featured against Rangers without either being at full fitness.

Ndayishimiye is expected to miss several weeks of action, whilst Melvin Bard hobbled off with an injury after a collision with an advertising board. It is an ongoing situation that is not only making Haise’s selection for matchdays an issue, it is also a logistical problem in training, as he pointed out ahead of Sunday’s match against Olympique Lyonnais.

“Even with the presence of the young players, we don’t have a group of 20 players to work with an opposition (10-v-10) in a tactical way, so I’ll integrate staff members for the free-kicks,” Haise revealed. It is a difficult situation for Le Gym, who have had to cobble through for much of the campaign; they will have to continue to do so, at least until the winter break.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle