Coach Kosta Runjaic held a press conference ahead of Udinese's first Coppa Italia match of the season against Padova, scheduled for Saturday. Here are his answers.
Impressions ahead of the season debut
"We're looking forward to starting this new season. The Coppa Italia is very important to us and it's the fastest path to Europe. We want to get off on the right foot and find the right momentum.
" Throughout the season there are two great challenges, the league and the Coppa Italia, and the more the season progresses, the more difficult the matches get. In Italy the Coppa Italia has a different structure compared to the corresponding tournaments in other countries. There are many rounds we need to win to get to the final.
"Bologna have recently won the Coppa Italia, proving that even an underdog can win it. We want to give it our all. We take this competition very seriously."
Thomas Kristensen leaving Udinese
"Kristensen leaving was no surprise. He was a cornerstone for the team. We'll miss him, but now we must focus on having our defenders improve, so that they can become our new [Nehuen] Perez, [Jaka] Bijol and Kristensen.
"I'm confident that they'll grow. We work with these lads every day and they want to improve. Matches and training sessions are two different things, however. Matches show you to what extent a player has grown."
Recoveries and injuries
"[Maduka] Okoye and Unai Gomez are available. [Saba] Goglichidze took a knock in training. Nothing serious, but we're deciding whether to have him play tomorrow. The others are all available, except [Alessandro] Zanoli and [Giorgi] Chakvetadze."
What matters more for tomorrow? The result or the performance?
"The best case scenario for tomorrow would be securing a good result and putting up a good performance. We're the favourites, but the Coppa Italia can always have surprises in store. We take all our opponents seriously and we're preparing as we usually do.
"I expect a good match, but I'm aware that the first game of the season can be challenging. We must build on what we did at the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup."