Saint-Etienne coach Christophe Galtier has praised his side for their improvement against Marseille despite tasting defeat.

Les Verts found themselves two goals behind after 26 minutes at the Stade Velodrome on Tuesday before going on to lose 2-1 to Les Phoceens.

"The two teams put on a good match, even if we weren't really into things in the first 20 minutes," Galtier told reporters.

"Marseille set us a physical challenge and we weren't up to it. We quickly fell two goals behind. I have regrets, but there's not a lot I can criticise my players for.

"We suffered for the first 15-20 minutes, which were fatal, but after that, we picked ourselves up."

Saint-Etienne host Bastia in Ligue 1 on Saturday.