Di Francesco reflects on first outing of pre-season

While the final scoreline may have meant little, the coach said he had gained a lot from the 90 minutes.

See what he had to say after the match.

What did you ask your players before the game?

"I asked the players to reproduce everything we'd worked on in the training over the last few days. I'm delighted with our first-half display, not for the goals so much as the desire to implement what I asked of them. For instance, seeing [Diego] Perotti playing intelligently behind the front man and coming deep to receive the ball between the lines is something we're working on.

"We're also working with lots of young players who moved well during the match. I had too many players out of position after the break but I had planned to give everyone 45 minutes. That meant picking a number of players in positions they're not used to, which meant our build-up play wasn't as slick as it was in the first period."

Who stood out if anyone?

"I don't like singling out individuals for praise but I must say we have some quality players. I would have liked to have seen [Mirko] Antonucci who unfortunately picked up a knock this morning. I enjoyed [Riccardo] Cappa's performance after he joined the training camp at the last minute. I'm pleased with how receptive the young players have been and how keen they are to implement what we've been working on."

Give us your view on Gerson, [Leandro] Castan and [William] Vainqueur. Could they remain at the club?

"It's too soon to say. We have our tour coming up which will involve selecting players and you are aware of what we're doing in the transfer market. I don't think it's fair to discuss that now - we'll do so in due course."

Marco Tumminello started today. Could he remain in the first-team squad or will he leave the club in search of regular football?

"I was intrigued to see him up close - he has bags of potential. He's been very attentive over the last few days and that's definitely a plus for him."

And the high line?

"We have to work with the ball to stay compact and play aggressively. The defenders are doing exactly what we want from them whoever we play against. I saw some very interesting things today and a whole host of things we must improve upon."

Could Gerson play higher up the park going forward?

"I was keen to see him in that position again but I had no other option. I would work with him as a midfielder. I knew he would play well there today."

Give us your thoughts on [Maxime] Gonalons and [Bruno] Peres?

"I had to get after Peres a couple of times but if I didn't do that it'd mean I didn't care. Bruno has done a lot of work on the defensive side of his game. The better he defends, the easier it'll be to attack. I had a word with Gonalons because I wanted him to impact the game more in both phases. He looked to play the ball forward more today than he has done in training and I'm pleased about that."

What have you asked the sporting director Monchi for?

"I asked him to take his time. We have to sign players within our reach that will improve the team. We need a right winger. I had to play a series of kids from the Primavera there today. I didn't want to play a first-team guy out of position there because I like to have players operating where they can perform best."