Leandro Castan is uncertain about the date of his return but hopes to be on Roma's bench before the end of the season, and confirms faith in Rudi Garcia.
Giallorossi supporters have lamented the Brazilian's absence this season, but the player has stressed that he doesn't want to rush his recovery from brain surgery.
“I still don't know when I'll be back,” he admitted in an interview with Il Tempo. “I want to do everything calmly, with no mistakes, and be back at 100 per cent.
Leandro Castan is uncertain about the date of his return but hopes to be on Roma's bench before the end of the season, and confirms faith in Rudi Garcia.
Giallorossi supporters have lamented the Brazilian's absence this season, but the player has stressed that he doesn't want to rush his recovery from brain surgery.
“I still don't know when I'll be back,” he admitted in an interview with Il Tempo. “I want to do everything calmly, with no mistakes, and be back at 100 per cent.
“In July I must be at the same level as my teammates. If I manage to be on the bench a few times before the end of the season, that would be a reason to rejoice.
“I started working with my teammates again, now I can do headers and in 15-20 days I'll have a medical to check whether I'm fit to play.
“They suggested I try a helmet but I opted against that, or I might get used to it and never take it off.”
The 28-year-old was also asked what had gone wrong with Roma, whose terrible second half of the season has seen them lose Serie A's second place to Lazio.
“It's hard to say. We had a lot of injuries. People say that [Kevin] Strootman and I went missing, but we barely played this year and in the first six months Roma did well regardless.
“As for the polemics between [President James] Pallotta and the ultras, I can't say what I really think,” said the defender, in reference to the offensive banners recently shown by the Giallorossi supporters.
“But I agree with the President. In football there should be no racism and no violence. Anything else I think, I'll keep that to myself.
“I can't say whether I'll do as well with [Kostas] Manolas as I did with [Mehdi] Benatia. We only played half a game together at Empoli.
“Kostas is strong but it's not enough to put two good players together, they need to have chemistry.
“Benatia and I played well together right away. We'll see what happens when I'm back, we also have [Davide] Astori and Mapou [Yanga-Mbiwa]. Also, [Alessio] Romagnoli will come back [from his Sampdoria loan]. He is already a top player and he can become as good as Marquinhos.
“Has [Coach Rudi] Garcia changed? No, he's only angrier, because we aren't picking up results. There's nothing else to do but to keep following him.
“Our first year together went wonderfully, now we're third and we can make it to second. Everything else is just natter.
“When I came, Roma weren't even playing in the Champions League, and now we're close to making it into the tournament for the second year in a row. So I see no reason why the Coach should leave.
“Lazio's Felipe Anderson? He's a good player and a good kid. But he's not making second place this year, so sorry…”