Di Francesco: We didn't do enough to get back into it

The Giallorossi lost 1-0 against league leaders Napoli, with Lorenzo Insigne getting the only goal of the game at the Stadio Olimpico.

And, while Di Francesco felt the defeat was harsh, he acknowledged the hosts could have done more on the night.

Is it fair to say you lost by a matter of inches tonight?

“Napoli were better than us in the first half but we were more aggressive and closed them down better after the break. I changed a few things around and we went back to the way we used to play – that's what enabled us to play a more aggressive game. It's a shame because we created the openings and put pressure on them but couldn't quite get the goal.

“If you look at the stats, Napoli usually hog possession but we shared it tonight – that shows you how evenly balanced it was. They took the lead from a mistake of ours and it gave them a boost but we didn't do enough to get ourselves back in it.”

Roma seemed to be lacking a bit of belief today...

“We wanted to play the game differently. Sometimes you win matches in the final minutes and we saw that against Inter, when we dominated proceedings for 70 minutes. We just needed someone to stick one away. We knew all about Napoli's passing game.

"Perhaps we're a little short on numbers to be able to change things mid-game but I'm pleased with the desire we showed to get ourselves back in it. We kept plugging away till the end and gave away few chances.

"At the end of the day, Napoli didn't have many clear-cut chances. They were in control though, and I don't like that. We weren't on our game in the opening period but we were after the interval.”

Do Roma have too many injuries?

“I'm not the only person coaching them – they've just come back from international duty. I do think [Kostas] Manolas' injury was more down to bad luck, though. He lost his footing and got hurt when he made a strange movement.”

Fazio looked handy when Roma were in possession too today. Why didn't he start the game?

“He didn't start today because he didn't train with us until yesterday. We have lots of games to play and he had to take three flights to get back from Ecuador. We left him out initially as a precaution with the Chelsea match coming up.”

Were Roma lacking a bit of individual flair tonight?

“We were lacking a bit of luck. When you hit the woodwork five or six times just in your home league games, I think there's an element of misfortune there. It's part and parcel of the game, mind: sometimes they go your way and other times they don't.

“Our opponents are more used to playing together. We showed Napoli too much respect in the first half and I'm not happy about that.”

Do you think Diego Perotti disappeared from the game at times?

“It all comes down to the fact we wanted to build play from deep so that we didn't waste possession. We didn't show enough movement between the lines, though. If Perotti has a midfielder coming up on the overlap, then he has the chance to run at his man one on one. If you don't give him that option, he can find it hard going. Besides anything else, Diego was coming back from an injury and perhaps pushed himself too much as it was.”

What sort of game are you expecting against Chelsea on Wednesday? They lost today too…

“I'm just looking at my own team aware of the fact that Wednesday could go some way to deciding our Champions League fate. We could have got a result today and it would have been better for morale, but we have to look forward optimistically because we're an improving side. We were playing a team that have torn their opponents apart this season and that didn't happen today.”