Jeremie Janot in fire line

Jeremie Janot in fire line

St Etienne goalkeeper Jeremie Janot is expecting to be in the firing line when he comes up against in-form Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac at the Stade Municipal on Saturday.

Gignac scored France's only goal in their 1-0 win over the Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday, and was given the man-of-the-match award thanks to his superb all-round display in Torshavn.

He will be eager to reproduce those exploits this weekend when Toulouse look to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Monaco last Saturday in the opening round of Ligue 1 fixtures.

Janot is hoping for more protection from his defence than he got last weekend, when ASSE lost 2-0 to Nice at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard.

"Nice were able to play the counter-attack perfectly and they were a bit more opportunistic up front," Janot said.

"But Toulouse have some deadly finishers as well, like Gignac. They can score at any moment with someone like Gignac up front.

"So it's a difficult game but we need the points, and to reassure ourselves after our home defeat."

St Etienne are yet to sign a replacement for the departed Bafetimbi Gomis so with Araujo Ilan still out injured, Kevin Mirallas will shoulder the attacking burden again this weekend.

Loic Perrin (thigh) is still missing while Mouhamadou Dabo and Sylvain Monsoreau are also nursing injuries.

Toulouse coach Alain Casanova welcomes back Gignac and Moussa Sissoko from the France squad and although Yohann Pele is back in light training after a breaking a bone in his hand in pre-season, this weekend is set to come too soon for the goalkeeper.

Left-back Cheikh M'Bengue is pushing for a recall after missing out last weekend because he was not match fit.