Eusebio Di Francesco admits he “expected the gap to be smaller” between Roma and the top of the table ahead of their Udinese trip.
It kicks off on Saturday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“There will be a little more squad rotation this week,” confessed the Coach in his Press conference ahead of a Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Eusebio Di Francesco admits he “expected the gap to be smaller” between Roma and the top of the table ahead of their Udinese trip.
It kicks off on Saturday at 14.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.
“There will be a little more squad rotation this week,” confessed the Coach in his Press conference ahead of a Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.
“Daniele De Rossi is fit and could play in the next two games. Jonathan Silva must be evaluated, while Juan Jesus should play, though we haven’t decided yet whether it’s as a centre-back or a full-back. Patrik Schick is really improving, but that’s no guarantee he’ll start.
“A new system enriched the team and the lads embraced it, but we’ll evaluate game by game which approach to use.
“We want to combine good football with results, but that is not always an easy balance to achieve. Right now we need points, but I haven’t liked the performances lately. I hope to find good football with greater consistency throughout the matches. At times we start strong and end badly, sometimes it’s the other way round. I hope we can start strong and end even stronger.”
Roma have leapfrogged Lazio to enter the top four, but are still a massive 16 points adrift of Serie A leaders Napoli.
“Considering the way the season was developing, we did miss a few opportunities. I did expect the gap to be smaller and I take my share of the responsibility for that. I’d still like to remind everyone there’s a Champions League Round of 16 to be played and we haven’t failed at everything.”
There has been growing debate around Roma at the lack of ambition reflected by constantly selling their best players.
“Choices have to be made. It’s difficult to win in Italy with the revenue of a club like Roma. We are building for the future and there is a sense of positivity.
“You need a lot of ambition to do this work, but as Coaches we are called to spend most of our time in these Press conferences talking about anything but what happens on the pitch. We mustn’t spend our energy on this. That’s the message I am sending to the team.”