Garde pleased with Lyon's pre-season preparations despite friendly defeat to Athletic Bilbao

Jul 14, 2012 1:40:00 PM

The 46-year-old revealed that he is pleased with Les Gones' progress in their pre-season camp, regardless of the result against the Basque side

Olympique Lyonnais boss Remi Garde has revealed that he is pleased with the progress that his side is making in pre-season, despite a 2-1 friendly defeat to Athletic Bilbao in Grenoble on Friday.

Les Gones took the lead in the second half through Mehdi Zeffane before new signing Aritz Aduriz scored twice late on for the Basque side.

However, the 46-year-old is remaining positive, insisting that his club are in good shape ahead of the new season.

"Players showed the state of mind that I was expecting. I saw some good things against a great team in Bilbao. The result is trivial," Garde told the club's official website.

"In central defence, I did not have much choice at this time. [Gueida] Fofana is not used to this position but has the ability to play there.

"Michel [Bastos] is the same on the left-hand side. It's very interesting but it may explain why we have not been able to hold the result late in the game."

Lyon play Anderlecht next before making the trip to the United States to face Montreal Impact as well as encountering Rene Girard's league champions.

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