French coach hails grieving Diarra

London - France coach Didier Deschamps said on Monday that his players had been moved by their grieving team-mate Lassana Diarra's decision to remain with the squad following the Paris terror attacks.

Diarra's cousin, Asta Diakite, who the Marseille midfielder described as "a big sister", was one of the 129 people killed during the rolling attacks that struck Paris last Friday.

But he elected to remain with the squad preparing for Tuesday's friendly against England, along with team-mate Antoine Griezmann, whose sister escaped the attack on the Bataclan concert hall that killed 89 people.

"We have two players who have been more affected, but in different ways," Deschamps told his pre-match press conference at Wembley.

"For Antoine Griezmann, the circumstances are happy. In his case, it's a relief and a happiness to have been able to keep his sister with him after she was present during the show at the Bataclan.

"Lass is hurting to the bone over a person who is very close to him. Lass wanted to stay with us and to hold onto those values of unity and solidarity. His presence with us is reassuring."