Montella relishing Roma return

The current Sampdoria coach, who spent almost a decade wearing the yellow and red of Roma as well as a brief spell in the Giallorossi dugout in 2011, says he's preparing to face a "great" team and one he feels is even stronger after the recent transfer window.

“It's going to be a fascinating game against Roma,” the former striker said at a media conference in Genoa before making the trip south. “We're going to be up against a great team but we've come on loads ourselves too.

“Roma have strengthened with their January transfers. [Stephan] El Shaarawy and [Diego] Perotti are both excellent players and [Ervin] Zukanovic is a great guy to have around with the versatility he offers.”

Montella also shared his views on opposite number Luciano Spalletti.

“We've worked together but we're friends too. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Roma can play in lots of different ways and Spalletti is very good at mixing it up.”

Sampdoria are without a win in five since claiming local bragging rights with a 3-2 derby triumph over Genoa on 5 January and saw two points snatched away when Torino grabbed a late equaliser in Wednesday's match at the Marassi. However, Montella believes his side are better than their recent form suggests and pointed to just how easily things can change in football.

“We'll need confidence and belief tomorrow. The spark comes for you if you believe in what you're doing. Having said that, there's always a fine line between success and failure in this game. We need to work on our mistakes and we mustn't be too pessimistic.

“If Sassuolo had equalised with their penalty, people would be saying that Roma are struggling. And likewise if our game against Torino had finished 10 seconds earlier, people would be saying that we're on the up.

“In the last seven or eight matches Sampdoria have always tried to play football and have never been completely outplayed by our opponents. We have to keep growing and we can do that by getting results.

“We need to go to the Olimpico tomorrow, believe in ourselves and be positive.”