Kosta Runjaic discussed injuries and form, besides the opponents, when he sat down for a news conference on Saturday ahead of the team's trip to Monza on Monday.
Here's what the boss had to say:
“It's never good when you lose two key players in a week and I'm really sorry for both of them on a personal level.
“It's [Maduka] Okoye's first season as No.1 and he was playing really well but injuries are part and parcel of the game. We have two goalkeepers who can replace him, [Razvan] Sava and [Daniele] Padelli, and I'm sure they'll do a great job covering for him. If nothing changes, Sava will play.
“[Keinan] Davis felt a muscle problem at the end of training. I'm optimistic he'll recover quickly and be available again soon, although we'll need to see how the situation evolves. We'll have to wait a week or two, maybe three, but we'll do everything we can to get him back as soon as possible.
“We have various options in the team and everyone is training well. When things aren't going the way you want, you have to be clear-headed in the way you analyse things. We won't change our direction because of these two injuries. We'll replace the goalkeeper and up front we have different options. I can't tell you how we're going to play but having two possible formations is an advantage.
“Monza are going to be very difficult but there are no easy games in Serie A. They're a good team. They might not have got the results they were hoping for – with lots of draws and narrow defeats – but they defend well, they have quality players, stamina, intensity. They also have one of the best players in the air in Europe [Milan Djuric]. He's very difficult to mark and is a real handful for defenders.
“We need to focus on ourselves, play with the right energy and play our way without making mistakes. It won't be easy but we have to make sure we don't create surprises for ourselves, like in the last game. It's essential we get points but it's the same for them. I'm looking forward to playing it.
“We organised the Christmas dinner on Monday as that was the only day when everyone was going to be here. We would have preferred to meet after a good result at home but it was a nice evening and well organised. It was an opportunity to spend some time together and get to know each other better – you can't have enough of those. It provided a bit of a distraction after an unusual match and it did them good. It's good to not only think about football every now and then.
“I don't like looking too far into the future. We have good foundations, a mix of experienced and young players who will get better. You have to consider their ages too when you look at results. I think we can all improve together. At the start of the season no one thought we could be up near the top of the table, then we went through some harder times. It's important to analyse things carefully. If we'd lost four or five matches and played badly, it would be different. But football is a results game. We want to play well and get points at the same time – and we have the chance to do that on Monday.
“[Thomas] Kristensen has recovered, otherwise he wouldn't even have been on the bench against Genoa. We won't have everyone available in defence again. We've played well at the back but we need more intensity. Kristensen needs to get up to match speed. I can't tell you if he'll start.
“We spoke to [Isaak] Toure during the week. He knows he made a mistake he could have avoided and he's very sorry. I spoke to him, Gokhan Inler spoke to him and lots of the players did too. He's a young lad who's growing and we'll help him in his development. He knows he needs to work hard. He's made mistakes before and everyone makes mistakes but they need to be less frequent as mistakes have consequences for everyone. We'll work with him. Maybe he's played a bit too much, partly due to the injuries we've had. He probably needed more time but he was thrown straight in. We need to look at what he's done well so far and how we can improve as a team, making sure everyone improves individually at the same time.”