Lloris backs France forwards to fill Mbappe´s boots against Albania

France captain Hugo Lloris has backed his team-mates to fill the gap left by injured striker Kylian Mbappe in Saturday’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Albania.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe suffered a hamstring injury in the club’s 4-0 win over Toulouse at the end of August which has ruled him out for a month.

France coach Didier Deschamp is set to put his faith in attacking duo Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann for the Group H encounter but also has uncapped Lille forward Jonathan Ikone at his disposal.

Tottenham goalkeeper Lloris believes whoever comes in will be able to deliver for Les Bleus.

“When Kylian is there we can rely on his individual quality, his speed, in the right of the pitch or in front,” Lloris said.

“We can rely on the experience of players like Griezmann and Giroud in attack to ensure the offensive side of the game goes in the right direction.

“When we wear the jersey of the French national team, when we are called into the French national team, there is a duty of [getting a] result. And even more in this qualification phase where we no longer have the right to make mistakes.”

The world champions face Albania at the Stade de France with the realisation that failure to secure victory could give other teams in Group H the initiative.

The last time we played Albania – in a EURO 2016 pool match in Marseille – we secured a 2-0 victory courtesy of goals from @dimpayet17 and @AntoGriezmann! #FRAALB #FlashbackFriday #FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/pBp8R8Mdt5

— French Team  (@FrenchTeam) September 6, 2019

France are top on goal difference, but three teams are level on nine points after four games of the qualifying campaign.

Mbappe is not the only high-profile name on Deschamps’ injury list, with Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Anthony Martial, Ousmane Dembele, Dimitri Payet and Alexandre Lacazette also absent.

“There are a lot of missing players, some of whom are important players,” Deschamps said.

“I have other players, not necessarily with the same profile, but we will try to continue to perform well.

“We have conceded a defeat in Turkey in June, but there are six games remaining, we know what we have to do, we have to win against Albania.”