Paulo Fonseca refused to answer questions about Edin Dzeko, praised Borja Mayoral and new signing Stephan El Shaarawy, while preparing Roma to face Verona.
It kicks off on Sunday at 19.45 GMT, click here for a match preview.
The last few days have been absolutely dominated by the row between coach and captain, which saw Dzeko frozen out of the squad and ordered to train separately.
Paulo Fonseca refused to answer questions about Edin Dzeko, praised Borja Mayoral and new signing Stephan El Shaarawy, while preparing Roma to face Verona.
It kicks off on Sunday at 19.45 GMT, click here for a match preview.
The last few days have been absolutely dominated by the row between coach and captain, which saw Dzeko frozen out of the squad and ordered to train separately.
Negotiations for an exchange of loans between Dzeko and Inter forward Alexis Sanchez also seem to have been abandoned.
“I understand your curiosity, but this is a subject I do not want to talk about now. We’ll see next week,” replied Fonseca when asked repeatedly in his press conference about Dzeko.
Did the Dzeko incident destabilise the team?
“The performance against Spezia said it all,” he added, pointing towards a last-gasp 4-3 victory.
“This is not the time to talk about this or the captaincy. We must focus on what will be a difficult match against Verona. Their statistics show they have one of the best defences in Serie A, they are strong in one-on-one situations and don’t let their opponents play.
“I studied Hellas Verona and there aren’t many teams in Europe who play this type of football. Ivan Juric is a fine coach and is doing a great job. His players believe in this style of football and are doing really well.”
In the absence of Dzeko, there is even more pressure on Borja Mayoral to deliver, while El Shaarawy is set to sign today after his medical.
“Mayoral is playing very well, he works for the team and has always put in good performances. He only recently arrived in Italy and it’s not easy to have the statistics he does.
“El Shaarawy can immediately be useful and I think he has the right characteristics for us. He wanted to come back to Roma and that is very important for a coach to know.”
Asked about the players who have shaken off injuries, Fonseca gave some clues to his line-up.
“Antonio Mirante will not start, Henrikh Mkhitaryan will.”