Nancy looks to stop Marseille's hot run

Published Dec. 19, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Nancy midfielder Samba Diakite is relishing the chance to test himself against Marseille on Tuesday night.

The 22-year-old grew up dreaming of playing for the south coast giants but remains confident the home side can spring a surprise and replicate their 1-0 victory at joint leaders Paris St Germain on November 20.

He told France Football: "It's another game and we are ready.

"This is OM, the team that everyone dreamt of when they were young.

"OM are full of great players that I love, like Alou Diarra, (Souleymane) Diawara and (Andre) Ayew.

"It's good to come up against them to see where I am personally. But in matches like this we must be united, as we were in Paris."

Fifteenth-placed Nancy had another away win at the weekend, beating Caen 2-1.

"We hope we can build on the win against Caen when we play against Marseille," he said.

"It is the last game before the winter break and therefore important.

"The coach warned us to be careful and not to think about the holidays and stay focused."

Marseille will provide Nancy with a stern test. Didier Deschamps' side have shrugged off a poor start to rise to eighth on the back of a run of 10 points from a possible 12.

Deschamps' assistant Guy Stephan is not expecting an easy night at the Stade Marcel-Picot, though.

He said: "It will obviously be difficult against a team that won at Caen at the weekend.

"They also won in Paris. We must claim a good result even if we could have a defensive wall in front of us."