France v Sweden: Lloris staying positive

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Didier Deschamps' men were disappointing in a 1-1 friendly draw against an ever-improving Albania in Rennes on Friday.

Albania - who hit the crossbar in the first half - were ahead by the break and France would have had no complaints if they extended their advantage.

But the hosts held firm and Antoine Griezmann produced an excellent equaliser with 17 minutes left to ensure both sides shared the spoils.

Lloris - like Deschamps - was not worried afterwards, insisting France had improved as the match went on, and that they were still experimenting with players and formation.

"We'd have preferred to end the match [against Albania] with a victory, but we performed well," Lloris said.

"We were much more aggressive in the second half. We equalised and then weren't far away from scoring the decisive second goal.

"We are still on our trial run, so to speak. 

"Lots of different players are getting playing time, so there's plenty of rotation. 

"We also tried out a new system in the first half today. 

"We still have a fair amount of time to work, finalise the details, and to progress as a team in order to be ready for the Euro [2016 tournament]."

Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette was one of those new faces - the in-form man earning his first international start on Friday.

But Lacazette, who has soared to the top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 11 goals in 13 appearances this term, was ineffectual.

Instead France's best moments came from Griezmann and if given a second chance, Lacazette will be out to take it with both hands.

More likely is Andre-Pierre Gignac being given a start on this occasion, though, with the Marseille marksman also in red-hot form - he has netted 10 Ligue 1 goals this season.

France will have also been worried at by how easily Albania threatened them on the counter-attack.

Sweden, ranked 39th - 32 places below France - are unbeaten in their last five after a 1-1 draw in Montenegro on Saturday.

Erik Hamren's men could perhaps feel unlucky, given that it took until the 80th minute for Montenegro's Stevan Jovetic to cancel out Zlatan Ibrahimovic's early effort.

Sweden have drawn three of their four Euro 2016 qualifiers 1-1 - the other ending in a 2-0 home win over Liechtenstein last month.

Ibrahimovic's goal was just his third for his country in 2014, but he will not feature against France after returning to PSG to recuperate.

The two sides have met 18 times, with France winning eight of them.

Sweden won the most recent clash, though, with goals from Ibrahimovic and Sebastian Larsson giving them a 2-0 win in the Euro 2012 group stages.

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