D’Aversa: “We want consistency against Venezia”

Roberto D’Aversa looked ahead to the clash with Venezia on Sunday in his pre-match conference on Saturday afternoon. “It’s a key game and it’ll be tough. They play attacking football against everyone and they’ve made life difficult for some of the top teams.

“We shouldn’t look at the name of our opponents, but at their ability, which we have to respect.

“Regardless of who we come up against, we’ll have to showcase the same attitude that we showed in the derby and in the Coppa Italia against Torino.

“We’ll need to be fully committed and determined to build on our recent performances and results.”

Back in his playing days, D’Aversa bagged a goal in a home win over Venezia in the 2000/21 Serie B campaign, which he looked back on with fondness: “If I think back to that game and to many other home fixtures at Marassi during my playing days at Sampdoria, I remember that we often only needed a half to beat our opponents, given the way the Curva Sud pushed us forward, and that goes for all our fans in general. For that exact reason, I hope we can recreate the atmosphere from the derby, and I’m specifically referring to our home crowd because the team needs them.”