Lille boss Rudi Garcia believes that his side have all the momentum as the Ligue 1 season reaches its conclusion.
The reigning champions currently trail Montpellier HSC by five points with three games remaining.
Garcia said that it was the critics writing his team off that spurred them on to put in a late challenge to retain their title.
"Two months ago, everybody said we wouldn't even finish in the top five," Garcia told Ligue1.com. "From that moment on, we said to ourselves that we would no longer look at the table and instead would focus on our own performances, try to play as well as possible and try to position ourselves for the final sprint.
"The squad has stood up to be counted. There's a strong collective will that has become apparent in recent weeks. If we keep this team spirit going then we can allow ourselves all sorts of hopes.
"The end of season is going to be very exciting and last season's double gave my players a lot of confidence."
Lille entertain Caen on Monday.
Michael Penkman
