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Furlan has every faith in his team

Istres have done well over the recent years against Troyes, but the regular standout figure was their goalkeeper Petric, who joined the away team this summer

Istres' positive run came to an end at Havre. The opponents proved too strong, they were under pressure throughout the match, and they were lucky to get away with only one goal in their net. It was their third encounter with the "big" teams and their third defeat, as they previously lost to Angers and Brest.

Now they are facing another team from that category, Troyes, but they have an excellent head-to-head score with them - no defeats in six matches, only one goal conceded. The only problem is that they were rescued in the last four of those by goalie Petric (who once even saved two penalty kicks), which didn't go unnoticed by Troyes, who signed him this summer.

Manager Pasqualetti fielded the same starting eleven last Friday and Tuesday, so he is expected to change things up a bit today. He hasn't got many options, especially in the midfield area. His defense will be boosted with the return of Doumbia, and team captain Barillon has good chances of full recovery as well.

Troyes arrives in a confident mood after a major comeback against league leaders Angers. They managed to come back from 0-3 in the last quarter of the match. Some quality football, inspired action and attractive moves were shown by both sides.

Only one point won in two matches does not bode well for the promotion contenders, but manager Furlan has every faith in his team:

- My coaching staff and I know that this team is worth the effort. The locker room listens, works, communicates... We have all the prerequisites to make a step forward.

They are going to Istres with two important players back in the team - midfielder Court and forward Jean. Only long-term injured players remain out of contention. Their squad options are, of course, far greater than the home team's.

Troyes was one of the two or three main candidates for the title, they odds for the title were around 5 or 6 and such a sudden rise surprised me pleasantly. The coach Furlan pointed out many times, which we mentioned in some previews, how he needs time to coordinate the team and for recoveries so he expects a slower start. Seeing that the task is coming to an end and they are only six points behind, I think they are in a really good position.
The team is almost ready, the starting eleven stabilized during the past weeks and there are good players imposing from the bench like Rincon, Thiago and Marcos and they have a super-talented forward Jean joining them (while only 17 he managed to gather 900 minutes and three goals in the first league) who missed the opening because of U-19 European Championship and half of September because of association's suspension. Saunier and Grax (former player of Monaco and ASSE, paused for a year because of a broken leg) also started training and all the lines in the formation were excellently covered with at least two or three good alternatives. Knowing the state in which the other big favorites are (Nancy and Lens are on the edge of a crisis, if not over it) and the fact that the team currently in the top 3 are smaller ones which cannot stay in the race to the end (perhaps only Angers) I think that 13 is an excellent offer and that perhaps half that value would be worth considering. Except for Dafabet, a good rate (12) can be found on several places (Expekt, Betclic, etc.).