Ranieri: “We can and must get a result”

Claudio Ranieri has called for his Sampdoria to stay focused when they welcome Crotone to Marassi on Saturday evening.

Crotone sit bottom of the Serie A table but are unbeaten in two, while Doria will want to build on the fine win over Hellas Verona in midweek.

“This is a very important game,” said Ranieri on Friday. “We’re up against a side who pass and move well and deserve to have more points than they do. They’re where we were last season. They’ll be looking to get a big win in their fight for safety – and we need to do the same. Our aim is to get to 40 points as quickly as possible. We can and must get a result.”

The packed fixture list means Ranieri needs to draw on all his experience to keep the team fresh.

“Let’s forget about Verona – I’m going to decide whether to make a few changes,” he said. “As always I’ll wait until tonight to assess the tiredness of the players and pick my best team for the game. We’re barely training at the moment – you go from recovery to final preparations in an instant, so the video analysts are playing a crucial role at this time. Keita [Balde] will be on the bench, but I don’t want to rush him back and risk losing him again.”