Fabio Cannavaro is confident Udinese can take points off any opponents if they play with the same determination they had against Bologna.
Having returned from Emilia Romagna with a creditable draw last time out, the coach is now looking for his side to go one better when they host last year's champions Napoli on Monday.
“We're going to have to be smart to hold our shape and be even more focused than we were against Bologna, both when we have the ball and when we don't," the boss told the media on Saturday.
“Napoli are a side that like to control the game but when we're in possession we have to hurt them, because we have the quality to do that. We played with great spirit against Bologna and that showed me we can give anyone a game.
"The league table this year might say that Napoli are a notch below Bologna but having had the chance to analyse them closely, I can see they're very impressive indeed, both as a team and as individuals. They're good both in and out of possession. They close down as a unit and shut off the space. They rotate positions and get in behind the back line.”
“I didn't think the Bologna game was particularly dirty or nasty but we're going to have to be smarter from now till the end of the season. We have lots of players close to suspension – we'll be missing two already on Monday and it's a shame. When you have a bad season, this can happen too but we must think positive. If we're able to dig in as a team, we'll get chances to hurt Napoli. They have lots of strengths but like all teams they have their weaknesses too.
“Often on paper you seem to have no chance but if you go into matches without being afraid you can give anyone a game. We've worked on the non-possession phase and done lots of possession work because that's where we need to raise the bar. If we want to get out of this situation, we're going to have to up our game.
“I prefer players who go and support a team-mate and don't just think about going for the second ball. That doesn't mean we're going to become Barcelona overnight but nor should it mean that when my team-mate has the ball I turn the other way.
“The way Napoli play, they force you to sit deep. I'm trying to make the players understand how we can beat our opponents to the ball and to the space, push up our defensive line and use our forwards to push their wide players out. We can press them in their half without fear, as we did in Bologna.
“We have to focus on ourselves. If we start thinking about other teams, we can do badly ourselves and then we're back to square one. We need to concentrate on getting the points we need ourselves, otherwise it's going to be very difficult.
“Everyone knows I'm Neapolitan and that playing against Napoli is special for me but Udinesse have an important objective and you have to put feelings to one side. We have lots of Neapolitan staff here too but we're only thinking of doing well for this team.”