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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE’S Olympic Lyon striker, Tino Kadewere, has been ruled out of the French Cup Round of 16 match against Red Star tonight due to injury.

Kadewere suffered a knock on the thigh during training on Tuesday. Lyon coach Rudi Garcia was disappointed that Kadewere joined a long list of players not available for selection that includes Houssem Aouar, Leo Dubois, Djamel Benlamri, Islam Slimani and goalkeeper Anthony Lopes.

“Lopes, Dubois, Kadewere, Aouar, Benlamri, and Slimani (suspended) are unavailable. We’ll see if Cornet is fit. Kadewere hurt himself yesterday in practice, but I will still put out a first choice team to qualify.

“It is out of the question to think of Angers. There is no question of fatigue. A change in tactical system is possible. We can find other options. We are still deciding in light of the absence of Tino… We will see what will happen with Aouar’s return.”

Lyon are coming from a depressing run of three matches without winning, which has affected their championship chase. They played a 1-1 draw against Lens on the Easter weekend and are looking to atone in the cup competition.

“What matters is the mentality of Lyon. We must respect this team. They knocked out Lens in the last round, a team that we couldn’t beat at the weekend,” said Garcia.

“We will have to play to our maximum. We won’t qualify if we have the spirit I’ve seen this weekend. We’ve been performing worse in training of late.

“I hope that they can respond, and you can count on me to remind them of this. I am finding that the mood around the team at present is not good. They are thinking more about Angers than Red Star.

“This match is especially tricky because of that. We are professionals and we will still have to do work and approach this with a state of mind that’s the best it possibly can be. I think they’ll figure it out easily.”