Paris Saint-Germain coach Antoine Kombouaré talks about his side’s training camp as well as the return to the squad of Guillaume Hoarau and Mateja Kezman.

Coach, do you feel your players are ready to attack the second half of the season?
“I can see lots of desire at any rate. The spirit and morale is high. The players are happy to be back training together. The training conditions aren’t easy, but we’re here to work. It’s important because all this sort of challenge is character building. I like seeing how people handle themselves in difficult situations. They haven’t got any choice, they have to work! We need to be ready for the second half of the campaign. It’s going to be interesting because we’ll be playing in some very tough conditions in January and February.”

How is Guillaume Hoarau feeling?
“Guillaume is on the comeback trail. He’s back training with us and he’s still got a bit of work to do. But it’s very encouraging. He’s waited long enough and he’s progressing each and every day.”

Mateja Kezman has also returned to the squad. Do you think he’s feeling part of the team again?
“Mateja is a really professional player. There’s no problem there. The only problem is that the Russian season finished at the end of November and he’s already had a month’s holidays. He’s worked by himself before returning and he’s still coming back to full fitness. He’s part of the squad.”

You said you were planning on playing the reserves against Aubervilliers in the French Cup. Are you sticking by that?
“It’s a Parisian football party. We agreed to play on the Saturday. We then agreed to play on Sunday. But there are times at which we don’t want to play. To get as many people as possible to the Parc des Princes, playing at 3, 4, 5 or 6pm would have been fine. But making us play at 20:45 is crazy. We’re playing on Wednesday and then again on Saturday. That’s three games in six days. I think about the health of my players and their recovery. We tried to put some pressure on the Federation but they told us it was the television stations that decide.”

Will you be keeping a close watch on the transfer market?
“Yes, but the most important thing is the team I’ll be working with. The mercato is ridiculous! It’s a huge problem for coaches. We’re trying to work and prepare for the rest of the championship. The players in every club are thinking about their futures, which is a real danger for the future of the club. I would like to change the system so we could work in the best possible conditions.”