Ivan Juric admits ‘both penalties were really soft’, but he’s happy with Verona’s 1-1 draw at Fiorentina amid an injury crisis.

“The lads were fantastic, because we’re going through such a difficult time with bad luck and injuries,” Juric told Sky Sport Italia.

“We had the chances to win it and allowed very little against a Fiorentina side that in my view has some quality players.

Ivan Juric admits ‘both penalties were really soft’, but he’s happy with Verona’s 1-1 draw at Fiorentina amid an injury crisis.

“The lads were fantastic, because we’re going through such a difficult time with bad luck and injuries,” Juric told Sky Sport Italia.

“We had the chances to win it and allowed very little against a Fiorentina side that in my view has some quality players.

“There are some interesting young players in the side, Yeboah has pace and had a couple of training sessions with us. We needed some more sharpness, especially as Eddie Salcedo isn’t really a centre-forward anyway.

“We’ll have to make do again this weekend, because we won’t get any of the injured players back in time for Inter.”

Nikola Kalinic was signed late in the transfer session, but almost immediately picked up an injury, leaving Verona short-staffed upfront.

“We signed Kalinic because he is above the average, you can tell from his touch and movement that he comes from a bigger club. We hope he’ll be back as soon as possible.”

The game was decided by two very debatable penalties, converted by Dusan Vlahovic and Miguel Veloso in the opening 19 minutes.

“We are aggressive in every area of the pitch, but not in the box. I want us to limit the damage in the penalty area, admittedly neither of them were penalties this evening. Both were really soft.”

Fiorentina director Daniele Pradè prompted irritation from Juric when he said the players who had done so well at Verona tended to struggle when sold elsewhere to work with other coaches.

“It’s all sorted, it was a compliment towards me, but not towards the players we sold or those we will sell. That was what annoyed me,” noted Juric.

The coach had also vented some frustration against Verona directors after the mass sell-off of players and very few brought in other than loans and free agents.

“I got angry at the start, because we had planned other things, then they weren’t done, and I understand there are situations like COVID and here at Hellas we’re very careful about the balance sheet.

“I was cross at the time, but it passes quickly. I am happy and have everything that I need to do my work.”

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