Kosta Runjaic spoke to the media on Friday about Udinese's next game – at home to Atalanta on Saturday afternoon.
“The team are in a good shape,” the coach began. “We've worked well this week and we hope to see happy faces after the match.
“We're ready. We're familiar with our opponents. They're one of the best teams in Serie A and they won the Europa League thanks to their man-for-man philosophy over 90 minutes. It's going to be an intense match with lots of duels. We'll need to play with intensity but also quality when we have the ball. We've prepared well for it.
“Most of the players are available. We won't have [Lorenzo] Lucca but [Oumar] Solet can play of course.
“I'm happy to start the second half of the season against Atalanta, a team who always produce a lot of quality in their play. With that quality – and a little bit of luck – they beat us in the reverse fixture. Now we want to settle the score.
“With [Egil] Selvik we have plenty of cover in goal. [Maduka] Okoye is injured, as you know. He's working on his rehabilitation but we don't know how long it will take. We discussed it and wanted to be sure we had cover in case something happened – though hopefully it won't – and competition.
“We also considered sending [Edoardo] Piana out on loan to get some playing time. It's an option we're still weighing up, but in the meantime we wanted to make sure we had enough cover.
“We've spoken about Lucca's bookings but you have to look at the type of booking. We've had some we could have avoided, which don't do anything for the team, but that are part of the game.
“Lucca's last booking was a decision by the referee. Sometimes it's a matter of opinion but he has to be aware that the way he plays he can commit fouls and that's football. Centre-backs in Italy and very physical and willing to go head to head. You have to deal with that but there are other factors at play. Lucca is a very strong player and you have to get the balance right and be aware of how you play. That's something we're working on by speaking to the players and helping them adjust their body position and the timing of their tackles, but players need to gain the right experience.
“[Keinan] Davis has suffered a setback and won't be available for another couple of weeks. Who will play in Lucca's place? I don't know yet.
“Playing with [Arthur] Atta and [Martin] Payero in midfield is one possibility we have for tomorrow.
“[Lautaro] Giannetti is not available for selection yet. He's training separately and I hope to have working with the team again next week. We'll see what shape he's in and whether he might be able to make the Como game.
“Solet has had a positive impact on his team-mates. Every player influences the others and the centre-backs especially help each other a lot through dialogue. Solet played well against Verona, showing what he can do and his composure on the ball. We'll have to see how he does in the coming games.
“Verona is the past and now we have Atalanta, who are a very different team. We must make no mistakes and be careful in possession because it would be dangerous to lose lots of balls against a team that play man for man and will put us under pressure. We can learn from the last time we played them and hopefully we'll show that we've learnt.
“We speak a lot in training. We spend many hours here together and it's important for me to learn Italian. I want to learn and I understand more and more. I even prepared a few things in Italian for this press conference. It's not going badly and I am trying but it will take time. When you learn there are different stages you go through and you don't always see the results immediately but then they come suddenly and it's a surprise. Learning Italian is an important goal for me because it can help the team. It's a very beautiful language and Italy is a beautiful country with lovely people. It's nice to learn something new at my age. I think you should continue learning throughout your life.
“In the reverse fixture Davis held the ball up a lot and battled with the centre-backs and it worked well. Tomorrow we won't have him or Lucca so we'll need to adapt. Atalanta don't usually change the way they play because they don't need to. It's quite impressive the way they maintain their playing style no matter what. We know what to expect and we're ready. We have to put into practice what we've worked on, then it will come down to 11 v 11, man for man, for 90 minutes, and we'll see how it turns out.”