Need to Know: Di Francesco's key pre-Sassuolo quotes

The Giallorossi boss sat down with reporters at Trigoria on Saturday afternoon to give his thoughts on the season as a whole, as his side try to finish the campaign by clinching third spot.

Sunday's game gets underway at 20:45 CEST.

On securing third place...

"I believe all matches should be approached with the same mentality, this is something which we need to focus on so we can grow as a team. It's something we need to do in this match: we've qualified for the Champions League but we haven't got third place yet.

"This is a team in good form, they've only lost once in the last ten games and that means it's not going to be easy. I know a lot of the guys and their mentality, which could be seen against Inter. My lads will need to be keen to play a good game too, just like I am."

On his return to his old home...

"The thought of being able to see so many friends and players with whom I've had some great experiences makes me happy. My memories of Sassuolo will always stay with me, it's a unique atmosphere to be able to work and grow in, like a family. On a human level too, I received some very important lessons, and gave some too. "

On Alisson's future...

"You know how football is, nothing is ever set in stone. Still, I'm convinced that Alisson will stay in Rome and it would make me very happy, for his personal development and the team's. He won't be headed to Reggio Emilia though: he's out with a muscular problem, so Skorupski will play.

"Cengiz will be coming along but he'll need to do a test tomorrow before the match. He took a bad knock so he's in doubt, as is Fazio."

On the season as a whole...

"I think that the self-awareness we gained is an important factor, and we also brought the fans closer to us again. The group spirit was very tangible, and in that aspect we've really grown a lot. We can't let up though. It's not enough, this needs to be a starting point for us, in our approach, in ensuring we don't underestimate anybody and in our preparation for next season.

"We need to get better, but it was a beautiful sight to see the fans' enthusiasm and I think it can be a great launching pad for next year. I'm not interested in giving a grade for the season, my judgement of it is less specific. We did something extraordinary in the Champions League, people are happy with what we've done but there's still a bit of disappointment because we were so close to doing even more. So, I would give a very high grade to our efforts in Europe.

"In the league, aside from our position in the table, it annoys me that there's such a difference between us and the teams ahead of us. We could have done better, both in terms of goals and points picked up. At the end of December and January we went through a rough patch. But there really are so many positive things to take away, and we fulfilled our main objective, which was to qualify for the Champions League."

On summer transfers...

"I don't want to talk about transfer gossip at this time, or about players who aren't in my squad right now, because any stray word could be taken the wrong way.

"Up to now I've just focused on qualifying for the Champions League. From last week we've started to think about next season and we are all working in perfect harmony towards it."