FRANCE EXPECT a raucous welcome at Croke Park on Saturday night, but they say they will not be intimidated.

While Patrice Evra has called on the French to block a potential Irish invasion of Paris for the second leg next Wednesday, he expects the home supporters to give France a hostile reception at Croke Park.

Evra said: “If the Irish reproduce the sort of crowds they had when we played (in Paris) in 2004, then maybe it would be better playing both games in Dublin.

“We need all our fans to get right behind us and transform the Stade de France into a fortress.

“We need them to make it really noisy because John O’Shea has promised me it will be hell at Croke Park.

“But France like games like that. We enjoy it when we have to battle and we have a lot of players with fighting spirit.

“You can talk about tactics all day long but without fighting spirit you can’t win a game.

“I’m not going to say it will be a war or even a boxing match. There are some things far more important in life than this but it will be a battle and we’ll be ready to combat them.”

Midfielder Alou Diarra said: “It is part of the context but it is a pleasure to play in a stadium with a heated atmosphere, I am not afraid. We have a lot of respect for this team but we do not fear them.”

Sevilla defender Julien Escude said France would not be intimidated, and urged his international team-mates to win the game mentally even before putting a foot on the pitch.

“The outcome of the game can hang on an exchange of looks, attitudes,” he said.

“We must tell ourselves that we will not lose, that nothing will happen to us because we will be fully prepared.”

Evra has told his French team-mates they can no longer hide behind under-fire coach Raymond Domenech if they fail to reach South Africa 2010.

Domenech has come under severe scrutiny from the French press and the booing public for his failure to overcome Serbia for the automatic qualifying berth for the finals.

Evra added: “We have to stop hiding behind Domenech when there has been a bad result.

“The people who boo us are the same.

“They shouldn’t forget that this is the same manager who needs to take the team to the World Cup. The same people boo also want France to go to the World Cup, so they should stop.

“The manager is still there. You can boo until tomorrow but he’s still there.”

Meanwhile, France midfielder Abou Diaby has not been ruled out of the play-off despite his Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s assessment that he would be sidelined for three weeks.

“The tests he underwent this morning were satisfactory.

“He still needs treatment but he is not out (of the play-off),” French federation spokesperson Francois Manardo said yesterday.