APPIANO GENTILE - Cagliari, Gianfranco Zola, his own players and the Europa League. These and more were the topics on the agenda when Roberto Mancini met with the media today ahead of tomorrow evening's match at the Stadio Sant'Elia.
The boss began: "It's going to be a fairly difficult game. Cagliari look pretty solid at the moment but we hope to win it. We're looking to see who we can get fit in time and we'll make a decision tomorrow morning based on how the lads are looking."
Questions about Mateo Kovacic and Lukas Podolski then followed. "Mateo is a first-choice player, as are others. We have good players who are performing exceptionally well. We're playing lots of games at the moment so we'll definitely mix things up a bit tomorrow.
"I hope Podolski is settling in well. He's improving a lot on the pitch. I hope he can get the goal he needs as soon as possible."
The coach went on to discuss the fitness of his defenders.
"Ranocchia has a knee problem and he's been playing through it. He's doing what he can to play and apart from this problem he's fine. When we concede a goal it's everyone's fault. You make mistakes, it happens. You just have to try and make as few as possible."
"Andreolli and D'Ambrosio are ok. They'll be on the bench and are able to play. Dodo is available for selection too."
Asked about Shaqiri, Mancini continued: "He's fitter than when he first arrived. He's a quality player who's come from Bayern. He's experienced too."
Reflecting then on Thursday's Europa League fixture at Celtic Park, he said: "We started magnificently against Celtic but then we eased off. At grounds like that the result can change in no time at all. They got the first goal and then the crowd carried them on. You mustn't give them the chance to get back into the game. At the end of the day it was a fair result."
Finally, Mancini had this to say about opposite number Gianfranco Zola: "I'm glad to see him back in Italy. We met once in the Premier League. He catches on quickly and his teams are hard to beat. He's come in at Cagliari and he's doing well there. It will be a pleasure to meet him."
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LIVE! CONFERENZA STAMPA ROBERTO MANCINI PRIMA DI CAGLIARI-INTER 22.2.2015 H:13:30CET
