Patrick Vieira spoke to a press conference on the eve of Nice - Slavia Prague (kick-off on Thursday at 21:00 CET). The Gym coach shared his sate of mind before the hugely important match, while explaining the preparations marked by the health situation.

Coach, what is the state of your squad?

It's hard to say. I know that the players, from a physical standpoint, won't be 100% given the week they've just head. On the other hand, we need to make up for that lack with determination, morale, with our desire to go out and get the win, because we know that's what we need. I'm not worried about the state of my players. This morning, (during the final training session before the match) I saw that they were focused, applied, and motivated by the idea of playing this very important match.

Kasper Dolberg was missing this morning. Could you tell us more about him?

He won't be playing tomorrow. He has been re-infected by the virus. We have followed the protocol and he was in insolation, but he had problems recovering and felt very tired. As with everybody else, he underwent a test on Tuesday and it came back negative. But he hasn't yet started individual training, hasn't had the same training programme as the other infected players. Given that, his return has been delayed. It's too tight for him for tomorrow.

On Thursday, given the conditions, will it be 'all about winning', and it doesn't matter about the philosophy?

These are difficult conditions to prepare for such an important game. But all clubs have the same difficulties. We want to carry on the adventure. We put in a lot of effort last season in order to qualify for Europe. The door is still ajar for us. We need to do what's necessary: a complete match in terms of organisation, determination, our commitment and aggressiveness. We need to give ourselves the chance of claiming the 3 points. We have already done that in terms of the work put in by the players over the last few days. We are ready for tomorrow's game, ready for the combat, and to take the 3 points.

Slavia were a little bit in the same situation for the first match and their coach said 'no excuses, as long as we have 11 fit players we'll go for it'. Is that the sort of thing you've been saying to your players?

There are no excuses to be had and the physical aspect isn't one. The players were in isolation for a week, and then they got back into individual training without forcing things. I would have given the players the week off in any case given the number of matches played in October and November. In physical terms, there hasn't been a great loss. In tactical terms, we have prepared very well for the match. Once again, with determination, and aggressiveness, we should be able to cause them problems. Our ambition is to win.

Given the unusual fortnight, should we expect many changes to your starting 11 and the system?

No, not especially. As of Monday, we restarted squad training. I saw players who all wanted to start this match. There won't necessarily be changes because of that. I will pick the best 11 to represent the club, the team, and to win the match.

What can you take out of the first game against Slavia (2-3) and what ingredients are necessary to put into the mix in order to get the better of this team?

We'll retain the 2nd goal (scored by Dan Ndoye) that could be very important. What we need to add to our game is aggressiveness in attack in order to cause them more problems. We need to make more runs in behind and be better with our final ball. If we manage to do that, then we'll be able to cause them problems.

Have you been able to make progress in reconstructing your defence?

Hassane is on his way back to fitness. He will start training with the squad on Friday. As for the centre-backs, we have tried things with Andy and Flavius. We also have Danilo back with the squad and he's available for tomorrow's game. Now, it is down to me to find answers so that the players can feel at ease and show their talent.

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