Jonathan unfazed by bench role in Ligue 1

Jonathan Mensah has said that he is not concerned at being a substitute for Evian Thonon Gaillard and is happy “as long as the team are winning" in Ligue 1.

The Ghana centre-back hasn’t featured for the Ligue 1 side since October 25 and despite playing every game for the Black Stars during their run to the Africa Cup of Nations final, looks no closer to being part of Pascal Dupraz’s first team at the Parc des Sports.

He sat out again on Wednesday evening as Evian recorded a 1-0 victory over Lorient, but is unfazed by his continued omission.

“I am happy for the team because we’re winning at the moment,” he began, speaking to Evian’s official website, “and if there’s a victory, that means that there’s an understanding in the team.

“I give everything, but I am in no rush [to return].”

Evian, among the favourites for relegation ahead of the season, are not out of trouble, but have put some distance between themselves and 18th-place Toulouse. Dupraz’s outfit have accrued 32 points from 27 matches, and are currently on a three-match winning spree with AS Monaco being welcomed to Haute-Savoie at the weekend.

“We are seeing progress,” Jonathan continued, “maybe Monaco are coming at the right moment, they’ve already played twice this week with the French Cup [where they were defeated 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain].

Mensah has been at Evian since 2011, having signed from Udinese following a loan spell at Granada. He started every game for the Black Stars in Equatorial Guinea at the Afcon and excelled despite having to play alongside Mohammed Awal, Daniel Amartey and John Boye for different stages of the tournament.