The Nîmes Olympique stalwarts were forced off injured in the second half of the 1-0 loss to Stade Rennais on Wednesday evening - a huge blow for the struggling side who currently sit in 19th place.
As Nimes faced Stade Rennais in their postponed Week 12 clash, Bernard Blaquart's side lost captain Anthony Briançon and striker Renaud Ripart to injury. It was the club's first outing since a confidence-boosting 2-0 win over Reims at the weekend - their first league triumph since Week 6.
Key men
Anthony Briançon had played in all 18 previous Ligue 1 Conforama matches this season - and even scored a goal against Olympique de Marseille in Week 19 - but the stopper sustained an injury to his right thigh at the very beginning of the second half and was replaced by Loïck Landre.
Not long afterwards, club top scorer Renaud Ripart (four goals) - who had taken the cptain's armband from Briançon - also left the field prematurely when he suffered a muscle strain after bursting into the Rennes box. The Nîmes number 20 was replaced by Kevin Denkey with 20 minutes of the 1-0 defeat left to play.
The club has, at the time of writing, yet to announce how long the two key players are expected to be out of action.
