Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic encourages Milan to 'take the opportunities' to reach their rivals and won't blame bad luck.
The Rossoneri play Genoa tomorrow at 11:30 GMT, and they have reason to worry as their record against smaller teams this season is not very strong.
“The result can be determined by chance, not so the performance,” he said in today's Press conference. “I told the lads we've got everything we need to catch up in the standings, but we've got to make the most of our opportunities.
Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic encourages Milan to 'take the opportunities' to reach their rivals and won't blame bad luck.
The Rossoneri play Genoa tomorrow at 11:30 GMT, and they have reason to worry as their record against smaller teams this season is not very strong.
“The result can be determined by chance, not so the performance,” he said in today's Press conference. “I told the lads we've got everything we need to catch up in the standings, but we've got to make the most of our opportunities.
“If we don't do that, then that's hardly bad luck.
“I can't blame the players for anything in terms of effort, but great teams have to close games and win.
“In seven matches against the so-called small teams, we picked up only five points. If we'd made the bare minimum, which is 11, now we'd be third.
“The second half of the season must be the moment of our comeback, but it risks being the moment of regrets and that's the worst possible scenario because there's no remedy for that.
“Certainly we could and should have done better in the first half, but now we must right the league table.
“The only game we deserved to lose and ended up drawing instead was against Atalanta. In all of our other draws we deserved better.
“Once or twice it can happen, but if it keeps happening then it's our own fault. There can also be some bad luck, such as [Andrea] Bertolacci hitting the bar last Sunday.
“Unfortunately we can't put together a string of 7-8 consecutive victories like Juventus and Napoli, but I'm certain that on the long term we'll reach the teams immediately ahead of us.
“It's hard to defeat us because right now we have a good continuity of results."
Mario Balotelli is returning to his condition as several of the other strikers are in questionable conditions of form, which prompted the question of whether it was SuperMario's time.
“It's everyone's time. We still have one training session and we'll see who can recover.
“The players are all important, and it's both possible and necessary to be decisive even as a sub.
“Genoa will be an extremely difficult game. They're a team that makes their opponents play poorly.
“A few weeks ago they troubled Juventus, but we have all the qualities necessary to beat them. If we can be aggressive and cynical, we can win.
“Alessio Cerci and Suso on the wings? I don't think both of them are going to play.”