Fonseca expecting tough Parma test

The Giallorossi head to the Ennio Tardini for the second time this season - having lost there when the two sides met in Serie A earlier in the campaign.

Coming off the back of two defeats in a row, Fonseca's side will be eager to get back to winning ways.

"We didn’t win the last two matches, but we played well," Fonseca said.

"I think the players are confident. We know that it’s a very difficult match against a tough side. We have great ambitions and are playing to win."

With Edin Dzeko suspended and Nicolo Zaniolo sidelined with a long-term injury, the game could be an early chance for both Nikola Kalinic and Cengiz Under to impress.

"I’m expecting a good match from both of them," Fonseca said.

"Kalinic will start - he hasn't played much, but he's been training well and I’m expecting a good match from him. The same goes for Cengiz, he wasn’t playing since Zaniolo was having a great moment."

On Zaniolo, he added: "I told him to be brave. The most important thing is to recover quickly. It’s not an easy process, it’s long, but now he has to be strong and only think of recovering quickly.

"I told him we have to be strong in these moments. It’s difficult for a young man to go through these things, but such is life."

The Portuguese's immediate focus will now be on coming up with a gameplan to overcome Parma, who won 2-0 in the last meeting involving the two sides.

"That was a very difficult match for us, Parma played well," he said.

"They are very strong in counterattacking, one of the best in the league in my opinion. We’ll have to change something strategically to try and win."

Thursday's game gets underway at 21:15 local time.