Auxerre without Donovan Léon at Le Havre as Oussama El-Azzouzi, Clément Akpa and Josué Casimir set to travel | OneFootball

Auxerre travel to Le Havre on Sunday at 17:15 with goalkeeper Donovan Léon suspended after being sent off against Brest, a match that finished 3-0. Clément Akpa and Josué Casimir are expected to make the trip. Midfielder Oussama El-Azzouzi is in line to return, with Auxerre in the relegation play-off place and Le Havre 14th.

Akpa came back from Côte d'Ivoire duty with a psoas issue after 79 minutes against South Korea on 28 March, and Casimir from Haïti with a knee knock after 86 minutes against Tunisia on 29 March. Akpa ran on Friday and is due to train normally on Saturday, while Casimir trained on Friday. Christophe Pelissier said in a press conference that it should be fine for Sunday and that they hope to have Oussama El-Azzouzi back after seven games out with a hamstring problem, and he remains without Lasso Coulibaly.

Pelissier would have preferred all his internationals to follow Lassine Sinayoko, who was allowed to skip Mali friendlies and stayed with the club during the window. Danny Namaso returned unscathed from Cameroon duty after 90 minutes against the Socceroos in Australia, a 0-1 defeat on 27 March, then 25 minutes against China, a 2-0 win on 31 March.

The coach wants everyone to match energy levels at Le Havre and to keep their defensive solidity, Auxerre have the third best defence in Ligue 1 over the last 10 rounds with nine conceded for 10 points. He also called for better attacking efficiency.

The reverse fixture at Abbé-Deschamps was a 0-1 loss to Le Havre, which triggered four straight defeats within a nine-match winless run of six losses and three draws. Pelissier believes this weekend could tilt their run-in the right way and has urged his players to step away from result pressure and focus on performance.

Source: L'Équipe