Genesio unconcerned by Lyon injuries

Lyon coach Bruno Genesio claims a lengthy injury list will not hurt his team’s chances of recording a positive result in their Champions League opener against Dinamo Zagreb.

Genesio has been unable to count on Clement Grenier, Mathieu Valbuena, Christophe Jallet and Nabil Fekir in recent weeks.

Olivier Kemen and Emanuel Mammana were also suspended for Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at home to Bordeaux, consigning Lyon to a second successive Ligue 1 defeat.

Such issues are to be expected, according to Genesio, who is confident his team still have the ability to get a positive result when they entertain the Croatian champions on Wednesday.

“The difficulties in terms of results or injuries are part of the life of a club. It is in these moments that we see the great clubs, great players, great coaches,” he said.

“We have already done it in the past against PSG, where we also had a lot of absences and managed to win,” he added, referring to a 2-1 victory in February.

However, the coach acknowledged a change in shape could be required in order to best utilise the players he has available.

“I said I wanted to adapt to the qualities of the players available. It’s a possibility [changing system]. When we play at a high level we must be able to adapt to different tactical systems,” he said.

“We know that the result of the first match is always of particular importance in the group stage. The mental aspect is essential before such a match.

“We also did a lot of video work to correct our mistakes.”