Gabriele Cioffi says Udinese are ready for Monday's crunch match with Sassuolo. With the Emilian side starting the weekend inside the drop zone with 23 points - four below Udinese – there's a lot riding on the result for both teams.
“This is a hugely important game – a relegation six-pointer,” the coach began. “We know that and we have to be ready for it.
“I expect our opponents to come racing out the blocks, try to push us back and create 1 v 1 situations on the flanks. [Alessio] Dionisi left a strong legacy and [Davide] Ballardini is teaching them to get reorganised more quickly. They're a very dangerous team in transition. We must be alert and play our game wary of the fact they'll be waiting to strike on the counter, looking to catch us unawares or being sloppy.
Regarding his own side, Cioffi said: “There might be a surprise or two in attack, although [Lorenzo] Lucca and Brenner offer very different qualities. Brenner is more similar to [Florian] Thauvin. We have the option of playing more off the shoulder. We'll try to get Keinan Davis fit in time for Inter.”
Despite being shorn of many players during the break, the coach was able to work with the team.
“It's hard to change the DNA of a team but you can understand your weaknesses and work on them. We've been doing that for a while, intelligently albeit sometimes with difficulty and disappointment - because we weren't unaffected by the Torino defeat We're ready to go again on Monday.”