Kosta Runjaic took questions from the media on Friday ahead of Udinese's visit to Cagliari. Here's what he had to say:
Points record
“The most important thing to me is not being the best coach but improving the team, giving them a clear playing style and helping them to get good results. We need one more point to make it the best result in the last 13 years but there are nine points still to play for. Like with films and books, if you're not happy with the end of the season, you go away feeling disappointed, so we want to finish the season positively.”
Season finale
“We have to go to Cagliari now and they've done well at home this year and need another point to be sure of staying up. Then we have Cremonese at home, followed by a tough away game at Napoli. We want to keep on playing as we have been in recent games – in fact, do even better. I'm less concerned with records and statistics as I'm focused on tomorrow's game and coming back with points. The team have worked well this week and they're up for it.”
Returning players
“[Keinan] Davis will come to Cagliari with us, as will [Nicolo] Bertola and [Jordan] Zemura. They've all recovered but they won't start. They could come on at some point – we'll see how the match goes. We want to ease Keinan back in gradually. Perhaps he could start against Cremonese. It's good that we have a bigger squad to choose from now, although [Jurgen] Ekkelenkamp's season is probably over. We don't want to risk him.”
Karlstrom
“I'm very pleased that [Jesper] Karlstrom has signed a new contract. I think continuity is important. He's adapted well to Serie A and always performs well. He's played a lot and is the leader of this team.
Next season
“I have another year on my contract and we're already planning for next season. Continuity is important if we want to improve further. Our goal is to maintain solid foundations and keep as many players as possible.
Formation, Mlacic and Gueye
“Cagliari have switched from three to four at the back and we can play both ways too. [Branimir] Mlacic is young and still needs to settle in properly but he's making progress and I'm fully confident about him starting a game. The same goes for [Idrissa] Gueye. We have several options for this match and I have confidence in everyone.”
Ekkelenkamp
“Ekkelenkamp suffered some nasty bruising against Lazio. We got him ready for Torino and he really wanted to play so he played through gritted teeth. He played well but 90 minutes were perhaps too much. He put a lot of weight on his ankle. We don't want to risk him because it could become a worse injury. He's already started his rehabilitation. He probably won't be involved in the last three games but it's nothing serious. Minor injuries can happen at the end of the season.”
Points record
“The most important thing to me is not being the best coach but improving the team, giving them a clear playing style and helping them to get good results. We need one more point to make it the best result in the last 13 years but there are nine points still to play for. Like with films and books, if you're not happy with the end of the season, you go away feeling disappointed, so we want to finish the season positively.”
Season finale
“We have to go to Cagliari now and they've done well at home this year and need another point to be sure of staying up. Then we have Cremonese at home, followed by a tough away game at Napoli. We want to keep on playing as we have been in recent games – in fact, do even better. I'm less concerned with records and statistics as I'm focused on tomorrow's game and coming back with points. The team have worked well this week and they're up for it.”
Returning players
“[Keinan] Davis will come to Cagliari with us, as will [Nicolo] Bertola and [Jordan] Zemura. They've all recovered but they won't start. They could come on at some point – we'll see how the match goes. We want to ease Keinan back in gradually. Perhaps he could start against Cremonese. It's good that we have a bigger squad to choose from now, although [Jurgen] Ekkelenkamp's season is probably over. We don't want to risk him.”
Karlstrom
“I'm very pleased that [Jesper] Karlstrom has signed a new contract. I think continuity is important. He's adapted well to Serie A and always performs well. He's played a lot and is the leader of this team.
Next season
“I have another year on my contract and we're already planning for next season. Continuity is important if we want to improve further. Our goal is to maintain solid foundations and keep as many players as possible.
Formation, Mlacic and Gueye
“Cagliari have switched from three to four at the back and we can play both ways too. [Branimir] Mlacic is young and still needs to settle in properly but he's making progress and I'm fully confident about him starting a game. The same goes for [Idrissa] Gueye. We have several options for this match and I have confidence in everyone.”
Ekkelenkamp
“Ekkelenkamp suffered some nasty bruising against Lazio. We got him ready for Torino and he really wanted to play so he played through gritted teeth. He played well but 90 minutes were perhaps too much. He put a lot of weight on his ankle. We don't want to risk him because it could become a worse injury. He's already started his rehabilitation. He probably won't be involved in the last three games but it's nothing serious. Minor injuries can happen at the end of the season.”