HAMLIN (AFP) -- France keeper Fabien Barthez has urged his teammates to forget about the suspended Zinedine Zidane and get on with the job of beating Togo on Friday and booking their passage to the next round.

Zidane was ruled out of the World Cup Group G decider after picking up a second yellow card in Sunday's 1-1 draw against South Korea.

The 1998 world champion, who turns 34 on the day of the match, is hugely important to the French team even if his silky skills in midfield have been naturally blunted somewhat over the years.

"We can't let his absence get us down, we've got to think about getting a result, think about our game with or without him," said 35-year-old Barthez, another of those to survive from the 1998 3-0 win over Brazil.

"There's no room for feelings like that -- it's up to us to adapt. "Personally I'm thinking more about my game than Zizou's suspension."

Barthez, who got the nod over Gregory Coupet for his third World Cup appearance, reckons France are still in the running to leave Germany with the title.

Barthez, whose contract at Marseille is up and is looking for another club, kept a clean sheet in France's first game against Switzerland before South Korea slipped one past him in Leipzig on Sunday for a 1-1 draw to leave the French third in Group G and with work to do in Cologne.

"We're still on target to win the World Cup," a bullish Barthez insisted.

"There are so many examples over the last 30 or 40 years, it's not over yet. "We knew we were going to have three cup-like matches. On Friday we've got the third of those and like all cup matches you've got to win it."

France are out to erase the memory of their humiliating title defense when they crashed out in the first round four years ago without scoring a goal, but Barthez said fear of a repeat debacle four years on was not on their minds.

"You should never have fear, you should never have regrets. You don't get small teams in the World Cup anymore, like you had 10 or 20 years ago," said Barthez, who won the European Cup with Marseille back in 1993 and made his debut for France in 1994. "You can't be concerned, you've got to remain confident and think about winning. That's all!"

"We're competitors, the only thing we're thinking about is winning.

"If any of us has the slightest doubt then it's best to leave."

If France fail to qualify it means the last image of Zidane, who is retiring after the finals, wearing a France shirt was of the player throwing his sweatband down on the ground in frustration at his injury time substitution against South Korea.