Le Havre coach Frederic Hantz admits the odds are stacked against his relegated side heading into Saturday's Ligue 1 match at Lorient.
The northerners' fate was sealed on Wednesday when a 4-2 defeat to St Etienne condemned them to life back in Ligue 2 next season.
Hantz will take a dejected, injury-hit squad to Brittany this weekend and he admits it is not going to be easy for his team to pick up a victory to raise morale.
"We knew for a while that we were going to be in Ligue 2 but when it is made official, reality sinks in and it affects you," he said.
"There are a lot of obstacles stopping us from going to Lorient with ambition. In midweek, we had a squad of 18 and we will have 16 at Lorient.
"We are going to have to find some organisation that will allow us to defend better than we did against St Etienne. We will have to defend better to get a result."
Top scorer Amadou Alassane (ill), Olivier Davidas (knee) and Kevin Anin (hernia) are again missing for Le Havre this weekend.
Lorient recovered from going two goals down to draw 2-2 at Nancy in midweek, a result that lifted them back into the top half of the table.
Kevin Gameiro, who netted a brace on Wednesday, should shrug off an ankle knock to figure, while Morgan Amalfitano (knee), Fabrice Abriel (ankle) are also set to be available.
Marc Boutruche (calf), Bakary Soro (knee), Sylvain Marchal (ankle), Yann Jouffre (back) and Lionel Cappone (thigh) miss out.
