Auxerre will have to do without influential captain Benoit Pedretti for Saturday's Ligue 1 clash against Lorient at Le Moustoir.

The midfielder has a muscle strain and will be sidelined for around two weeks as the Burgundy club look to keep up their good form of 2008.

They have been embroiled in relegation trouble all season but the second half of their campaign has been impressive, much to the delight of coach Jean Fernandez.

"The assessment of the first two months of the year has been positive with only defeats away to the teams who are second and fourth in the table, both quality sides," he said.

Draws against Nancy and Caen have left Lorient in seventh position, and they are now seven points off the European places.

They could also be without their captain this weekend, with Sylvain Marchal struggling with muscle fatigue.

Kemal Bourhani is sidelined with a pelvic injury and Nicolas Marin is ill.

Fernandez, whose Auxerre team come into this weekend in 14th place, will have to reshuffle his team because of the absence of key midfielder Pedretti.

Onanga Itoua has a knock and is also out, joining goalkeeper Olivier Sorin (elbow) and midfielder Thomas Kahlenberg (knee) in the treatment room.

Lynel Kitambala and Marcos Antonio are back in the squad after missing out in last weekend's away draw against Lens but Gabriel Tamas is suspended for the clash with Lorient.