Claude Puel has told his Nice players to forget about their recent form and focus on responding against AS Monaco on Tuesday night.
Nice have lost their last five Ligue 1 games on the spin heading into the derby de la Cote d'Azur at the Allianz Riviera, with the latest defeat coming just three days ago at Lorient.
"It's good that this game comes around so quickly after our latest defeat," Puel told reporters. "It's a derby and they are matches like no other. In these games you have to call on your values in a pronounced way and in our position that's no bad thing.
"None of our players have let their heads drop. We're playing with freedom and not taking our chances at the moment. Of course our confidence levels are at a low ebb, especially in front of goal.
"We need to show our character and my players have plenty of that. We also need our supporters to get behind us and they'll be important as we aim to beat Monaco. We believe we can win and we want to make the fans happy."
You can get live commentary of Nice's meeting with Monaco on Sports Mole tonight, with kickoff at 8pm.
Matt Cotton
