Roberto D’Aversa believes Parma can take a ‘big step’ towards survival in Serie A this season with victory over Torino tomorrow.
The match takes place at 18:30 BST tomorrow – click here for a preview.
“Taking a closer look at the recent training period, I’d say that the team are in quite good shape, both from a physical and mental point of view,” D’Aversa said at a press conference.
Roberto D’Aversa believes Parma can take a ‘big step’ towards survival in Serie A this season with victory over Torino tomorrow.
The match takes place at 18:30 BST tomorrow – click here for a preview.
“Taking a closer look at the recent training period, I’d say that the team are in quite good shape, both from a physical and mental point of view,” D’Aversa said at a press conference.
“But we haven’t played a game in a long while, so a more accurate evaluation can only be given after the match tomorrow.
“As I said to the lads today, perhaps the most difficult thing is staying focused for the full 90 minutes after this period of inactivity and in the knowledge that we’ll be playing in empty stadiums.
“We’re trying to work on this aspect in training, maintaining our concentration levels throughout our sessions. Matches then bring uncertainties, but we’ve worked on a bit of everything during this period.”
Torino may be the home team, but their advantage has been wiped away by games post-pandemic being played behind closed doors for now.
“If we look at the leagues in other countries, the home factor is less apparent: it’s very likely that there have been variations in results due to no home fans being present.
“It’s clear that this long period of activity could change the dynamics. A lot will depend on how many players are available and on injuries, we’re hoping that we have as few as possible. There are a lot of factors at play.
“There will be changes due to the fact that fans won’t be present and the league is resuming again after a long break.”
Whereas Parma are just about in the top half of the table, their opponents are down in 15th, having suffered seven straight defeats before lockdown.
“The potential pitfalls lie in the fact that we’ll be facing a team that, in my opinion, is better than what is suggested by the league table.
“We need to be aware that we need to put in a big performance because we still need to achieve our objective: a positive result would allow us to take a big step towards this.
“We’ll be coming up against a side that will be doing everything to win the game. We need to be ready from all points of view: we must be mentally and physically prepared and show determination and quality too.
“We need to be ready to face a team that – and let’s not forget this point – enjoyed a completely different season last year. They’re a very good team.”