Unai Emery insists Paris Saint-Germain's immediate Champions League objective remains topping Group A, despite their poor domestic form and after drawing 1-1 at home to Arsenal in their opening fixture.
PSG arrive in Bulgaria to face Ludogorets Razgrad on Wednesday with one point to their name -- the same as the rest of the group after Ludogorets also drew with Basel earlier this month.
"There will still be four matches left after this one," Emery told a prematch news conference. "As far as qualification is concerned, nothing will be decided here. Our objective is clear -- finish top after the six group games."
The French champions are struggling for form domestically at present, having lost two and drawn one of their opening seven matches in Ligue 1.
However, Emery is "optimistic" Les Parisiens "will evolve" and emphasised "this year is different" because they essentially have a "new team."
"The PSG project is a long-term one," Emery said. "With patience and hard work, we will meet our objectives. The team is motivated to improve. For the moment, the players are calm."
Emery was expected to welcome Hatem Ben Arfa back to the squad after dropping him for the last four matches because of his physical condition.
However, Ben Arfa, and Jese Rodriguez, missed out on a place in the squad for Wednesday, although Marco Verratti has made the trip.
"I do not know about [Ben Arfa and Jese's] unavailability," Emery said. "Verratti is doing well. I want him in optimum condition. If he feels fine, he could start."
PSG captain Thiago Silva joined Emery in the news conference and praised teammate Marquinhos' "many qualities," before expressing his belief that he can improve further.
"I played many times with David Luiz and I have played many times with Marquinhos," Silva said. "When you play alongside these players, things are easy. Marquinhos is a friend of mine, I am here to help him.
"Even when I was not with him at international level, we exchanged messages often on things he could do better. I am there to help him. I played alongside [Paolo] Maldini and [Alessandro] Nesta and learned lots from them. Now it is my turn to pass this on to the boy."
On his team's slow start to the Ligue 1 season, Silva admitted PSG "have had better starts in the past" but insisted the French giants will "bounce back."
However, he said he and his teammates "must change our mentality," and pinpointed the summer loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a key reason for their current domestic strife.
"We lost a lot of quality with Ibra's departure but we are seeing new qualities in [Edinson] Cavani," he said. "We are always favourites. We have the mentality to recover. We are working hard. It is difficult to speak after losing two matches."