Lille are improving, insists boss girard

While Lille's winless run in all competitions stretched to 11 games on Wednesday, after they were forced to come from behind to draw 1-1 with PSG, Girard praised his team's

performance after a tough couple of months, including three trips in the UEFA Europa League. Lille have not won since September but moved up to 15th in Ligue 1 after claiming a point against

the French champions. "About us, I believe we do not deserve our current place in the standings," Girard said. You may like "We had a bad patch with an overloaded schedule

and the accumulated fatigue. I know this group is much better than that and there will be better days." But Girard made it clear Lille's work is far from complete with the Derby du

Nord versus Lens coming up on Sunday. Lens sit in the relegation zone but are just three points behind Lille, which should ensure the derby is a hard-fought encounter. "Beware, this is

a draw, it's not over," the 60-year-old said. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. "[Coming up] is a derby on Sunday, which will

be a real cup tie." PSG hit the front in the 29th minute at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy when Edinson Cavani finished off Ezequiel Lavezzi's cross. But a mistake from PSG goalkeeper

Salvatore Sirigu ensured Lille would claim a draw with the Italian parrying David Rozehnal's header into the net three minutes before half-time. Girard was thrilled to see Lille earn

something from a game where they edged the goal-scoring opportunities 15 to 10. "I am very pleased with the behaviour of my team," he said. "The boys needed to be rewarded for

their efforts, even though we sometimes had a difficult time in the game. "But it was Paris opposite, not [just] anyone."