Parma ended the first half of the season at seventh in Serie A and Roberto D’Aversa praised his players for staying “compact through difficult times”.

The Crociati secured their third win in five games with a 2-0 triumph against Lecce on Monday and they're only one point behind Cagliari in the fight for a place in the Europa League next season.

“The compliments for seventh place I will pass on to the lads,” D’Aversa told the reporters. “They made an extraordinary first half of the season.

Parma ended the first half of the season at seventh in Serie A and Roberto D’Aversa praised his players for staying “compact through difficult times”.

The Crociati secured their third win in five games with a 2-0 triumph against Lecce on Monday and they're only one point behind Cagliari in the fight for a place in the Europa League next season.

“The compliments for seventh place I will pass on to the lads,” D’Aversa told the reporters. “They made an extraordinary first half of the season.

“We have collected important points and in difficult times they were compact, also because of the heavy number of absentees we’ve had.”

They bounced back after a heavy 5-0 loss to Atalanta in Bergamo in their return to action from the winter break, and D’Aversa was proud to see his players respond immediately.

“Compared to previously, we’ve never looked back,” he said. “It will be the same after this game, just like it was after the 5-0 defeat to Atalanta.

“Just because they’re called Atalanta, they are underestimated. They are very strong and have qualified from the first phase of the Champions League and even stopped Inter.

“Today, the lads went to the pitch for a personal redemption, after only participating for 15 minutes in Bergamo.”

On Thursday the Ducali are already back in action in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia, when they host Roma at the Ennio Tardini.

Parma have been linked with Gianluca Caprari and the coach revealed they are struggling with to cope with their injury list.

“With [Matteo] Scozzarella and [Alberto] Grassi out injured, it’s very hard,” he said. “Today I was forced to play [Jasmin] Kurtic, because we were short.

“The sporting director knows what I want, but he has to make his assessments based on the financial resources we have. I only focus on what happens on the pitch and prepare for the Coppa Italia match [against Roma].”

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