France manager Didier Deschamps has hailed the strength of Lassana Diarra ahead of this week's friendly against England.

The 30-year-old former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder, currently with Marseille, lost his cousin in the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday night but chose to travel with the national team for the friendly at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday.

Fellow Les Bleus star Antoine Griezmann's family was also involved in the horrible events but luckily, the Atletico Madrid star's sister escaped the massacre.

"Of course two of our squad have been profoundly touched by the terrible incidents," Deschamps told reporters.

"On the one hand, Antoine Griezmann was fortunate enough to have a feeling of relief and happiness – the fact that his sister managed to stay alive in the incident that happened at the Bataclan concert.

"Lass unfortunately has been touched deeply by the loss of a relative who he was very, very close to.

"We've managed to stay together. I think that it's great that he's stayed with us.

"I've talked with both the lads, as I have with a lot of the players and I think that his presence has almost been a sense of reassurance for us.

"Lassana has been very strong. He, as we all have, has learnt the value of unity and solidarity.

"I can only repeat at this time the message that Lassana Diarra has put out on social media, the very strong message that sport knows no colour and knows no religion."