Bordeaux defender Henrique insists he and his team-mates must keep their heads up after recent poor results and go into tomorrow's derby against Toulouse ready to bounce back.

Les Girondins' 1-0 Coupe de la Ligue loss at Montpellier on Wednesday was their second successive defeat, following Sunday's 3-1 Ligue 1 reverse at Bastia.

Francis Gillot's side have now gone six games without a win in all competitions, but Henrique - who was an unused substitute for the cup tie - has stressed the importance of Bordeaux's players keeping a positive frame of mind ahead of the league meeting with their Garonne rivals at Stade Chaban Delmas.

``We complicate life, but we must not lower our heads,'' said Henrique, quoted on www.girondins.com.

``It's good that we have the derby on Sunday to win.''

He added: ``Toulouse's main strength is collective. They are solid at the back, and everyone makes the effort to get on the ball and attack.

``We must be wary of this team and we should certainly not think it will be an easy game just because we are playing at home.

``We must play better than we did against Bastia and Montpellier, and I am certain that we will show a different face to Toulouse.''

Toulouse are flying high in the league at the moment, although they too experienced disappointment in the Coupe de la Ligue this week, going down 1-0 at Lille on Tuesday in a match that went into extra-time.

It means coach Alain Casanova is also looking for a response tomorrow from his team, who he feels will need to be mentally strong for the contest.

``In a derby, it takes a lot of mental virtues,'' said Casanova, quoted on www.tfc.info.

``We must be able to produce a performance to put Bordeaux in trouble.

``We are not going there to suffer. I'm expecting to see another face from what we showed at Lille - I'm expecting a reaction from the team.''