France assistant coach Guy Stephan on Friday (24th June) defended Euro 2016 scheduling after his side were given seven days to prepare for their round of 16 game with Republic of Ireland, while Martin O'Neill's team had just three days.

SOUNDBITE: (French) Guy Stephan, France assistant coach

"We play the Republic of Ireland, who are a is a very tough team, but one which is not made up of famous players who play for bi clubs like Manchester United, (Manchester) City, Liverpool or Arsenal. On the other hand, they have players which play in very good Premier League clubs, and they are able to win against very strong teams, because they won against Germany.They don't concede many goals, either."

SOUNDBITE: (French) Guy Stephan, France assistant coach

"Three days, that counts in the competition. They began their campaign later than us. We started on the 10th, and they began on the 13th, then played on the 18th and 23rd. So the fact we qualified earlier means we have had more recovery, but we have to be careful. There were some examples in the past where teams have had a lot of time to prepare, but it's not because of that that they performed better. But anyway, if we had a choice, we'd prefer to get three days more."