Paris St Germain defender Sammy Traore has described Saturday's Ligue 1 clash with Nice as a must-win game.
The capital giants' 4-1 victory at Sochaux last time out was their first for two months, a run that has seen them drop to 11th in the table.
Traore told psg.fr: "We're still looking for points to climb back up the table as quickly as possible. That means we need a series of consecutive wins. We simply have to win against Nice.
"We've lost too many points already, even if we've often played quite well. We did the job against Sochaux and we need to do it again against Nice."
Nice have also had a difficult start to the season but consecutive victories against Lyon and Le Mans have seen them climb out of the relegation zone.
"Sochaux were coming off three wins in a row and Nice two," continued Traore. "The OGCN are a tough team to play.
"They have very quick attackers and very experienced midfielders but they did lose some important players over the summer."
Tellingly, last weekend's victory coincided with the return to fitness of striker Mevlut Erding, and PSG coach Antoine Kombouare knows the Turk's importance to his side.
"Mevlut certainly brings something to the squad," he said. "It's important because the team wins when he plays. He gives his team-mates confidence, gives them a lot of strength and energy."
One Nice player who cannot wait to run out onto the pitch at the Parc des Princes is Ismael Gace.
The defender, who has just broken into the first team, began his career with PSG before joining Nice in 2002.
"It's true that signing for PSG was a dream," he said on ogcnice.com. "They had a very good result in Sochaux and we know they will be trying hard to beat us."
Nice midfielder Julien Sable will miss the trip after suffering a thigh strain against Le Mans last weekend.
