Saint-Etienne head coach Christophe Galtier has urged his side to toughen up as they look to secure European football for another season.
Galtier's side have fallen eight points behind third-placed Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, but he insists that the focus must be on their own form as they look to lead the chasing pack behind the top three.
"The podium is between the top three teams at present," he told reporters. "They are the best equipped teams, and in addition Marseille and Lyon have only the league to play which provides them with extra freshness, although PSG remain the logical favourite.
"That said, we are still fourth. If the podium is presented to us we must climb on to it.
"Primarily, if we want to continue to be ambitious we must become a tough team to play, and our ambition is to be playing in Europe for the third consecutive season."
Saint-Etienne meet Bordeaux, who are only four points behind them in the standings, on Sunday afternoon.
