Will Still was reportedly worried about the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) period, with many of his big names participating in the competition in Ivory Coast. Youth players are set to get their chance as Stade de Reims face AS Monaco on Saturday afternoon.
As expected, many of Reims’ biggest names have been called up by their respective sides, not only for the AFCON, but also for the Asian Cup. Yunis Abdelhamid, Ibrahim Diakité, Oumar Diakité, Amir Richardson, Junya Ito and Keito Nakamura are all asbent. Injuries are helping either. Marshall Munetsi and Maxime Busi are both out injured against Monaco, and as a result, Still will have to resort to fielding an inexperienced side.
Mamadou Diakhon will be given his chance. The 18-year-old forward impressed in the Coupe de France last weekend, netting a brace.
Reims likely lineup v Monaco
Yehvann Diouf; Thibault De Smet, Emmanuel Agbadou, Joseph Okumu, Thomas Foket; Teddy Teuma, Azor Matusiwa, Reda Khadra; Mohamed Daramy, Amine Salama, Mamadou Diakhon. (L’Éq)
