Chelsea Striker Nicolas Anelka Insists That France Must Play To Win Against Republic Of Ireland

By Nick Price

France striker Nicolas Anelka has warned his team-mates to avoid adopting a defensive mentality ahead of their second leg play-off tie with the Republic of Ireland.

The Chelsea striker's deflected shot at Croke Park on Saturday gives Les Bleus a 1-0 advantage ahead of Wednesday's fixture in Paris, where the home side will be undoubted favourites to qualify, but Anelka, yet to appear in a World Cup, is wary of sitting back on a slender lead.

"Of course it's good to score away from home, it's a play-off so it's very important," the 30 year old told French football federation's website.

"It's satisfying because we wanted to come here and show that we could get a good result.

"But we shouldn't get carried away, anything can happen.

"We will play to win on Wednesday because that's the only way we can play freely, and we also want to give the fans something good at Stade de France."

France were driven close by Ireland on Saturday, and Anelka was frank about his side's performance.

"We couldn't get going and develop our game. We talked among ourselves and told each other what we had to do."

Should France find their fluency on Wednesday they will reach their fourth consecutive World Cup finals, giving them the opportunity to avenge a penalty loss at the final hurdle in 2006.