Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa is refusing to contemplate a potential Ligue 1 title challenge despite Sunday's 2-1 win over St Etienne.
The victory, via first-half goals from Gianelli Imbula and Dimitri Payet, took OM two points clear at the top of the table and five ahead of reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.
However, Bielsa, who took charge of the club in the summer, is refusing to get carried away just yet.
"Having played just eight games in a 38-game season, we can only think about playing and not about analysing the table," Bielsa told L'Equipe. "I will not set targets and prefer to concentrate on the next match."
Jonathan Brison scored St Etienne's consolation goal in the second half but Bielsa, who replaced goalscorer Imbula and the lively Florian Thauvin with Mario Lemina and Romain Alessandrini in the second half, was never seriously concerned.
Bielsa said: "During the first 15 minutes of the second half we were struggling physically, which we remedied with the introduction of Lemina and Alessandrini -- they breathed life into the team.
"Imbula had a very good first half and Thauvin was dangerous when one-against-one, but I sacrificed these players to give us more physical presence in the match.
"The last half-hour of the second half we regained our domination of the game, with fewer goal chances and less beauty in the game but with efficiency, defending well and controlling the ball. We dominated for 75 minutes. Aside from a few chances in the second half, the team did not suffer too much.''
St Etienne coach Christophe Galtier, meanwhile, was disappointed to see his side fail to show up for the first half.
"The regret is having only played one half -- the second," he said. "We knew Marseille score 75 percent of their goals in the first 20 minutes of each half. The second goal was the consequence of two mistakes when we were put under pressure and did not protect the ball.''
Galtier was aggrieved as Les Verts were forced to play just three days after their 1-1 draw with second-placed Bordeaux on Thursday, while Marseille had an extra two days' rest, having hammered Reims 5-0 on Tuesday.
"It is inevitable that Marseille were fresh and I would hope those in charge of the league understand you must have sporting equality,'' he said. "If Marseille had played later in the week they may not have had the same freshness or the same starting XI, but that is what the league decided. But it was not the league that beat us, it was Marseille, they were very impressive. They will be a contender for the title.''