Spalletti's pre-Pescara press conference in full

See everything coach Luciano Spalletti had to say at his pre-match press conference ahead of Monday night's Serie A meeting with Pescara.

The boss began by sending a message to the club's Primavera side, after they won the Coppa Italia against Virtus Entella on Friday night.

“I’d firstly like to congratulate the Primavera, led by Alberto De Rossi, for this most recent achievement," he said. "De Rossi has showed his value over a number of years, with changing teams. Then I’d like to say that the family of Michele Scarponi is in our thoughts.”

See the rest of his answers in the transcript below.

You’ve had a full week of training: how important will that be for the final stretch of the season? How is Emerson doing?

“Emerson has shown that he’s almost fully recovered, but he will have to keep on training to get back to full fitness and play some games, but we’re happy with how things are at the moment. The fact we can train with everyone together is obviously beneficial to us. In good training sessions we can focus on our intensity, speed and decisions in an environment that is close to that of a real match.

"With 22 players out on the pitch we can work on playing as a team, working together, and on our technical qualities. When you have more time available you can mix things up – it’s advantageous to have more days for training.”

What are the dangers of games like this against teams that are almost relegated?

“There are many dangers – there isn’t a single team that starts badly and ends badly, continually producing the same results. Teams come up with big and unexpected results, as we’ve seen in recent weeks. I think Pescara are a good team in general – they’ve had some good spells, though without picking up results. It’s been similar for Empoli. You can see the work they put in.

"I think [Zdenek] Zeman has made a few changes recently; the team had a little less about them before. They go back to sitting deep after hitting you with flashes on the break. Among the things Zeman has done is keeping the best facets of his side, while making tweaks. I remember the reverse fixture, in which we were given a tough time. We needed to make better use of the quality our players have, in a complex game.”

What will be the decisive factors in this final race for second place?

“Teams like Roma and Napoli need to rely on their own ability, focused on the prize at the end of the season, on what you’ll be able to show for it and on the team that you’ll have become. We can finish the season well. Perhaps Napoli’s run in is slightly easier, but we are a strong side, as they are too. It’s not all been plain sailing this season; there have been times where we we’ve laboured but we’ve not taken any backward steps.

"We need to see what we can achieve in this last stretch of the season, a short but key period. We can make sure we train well – we’ve got lots of key qualities and we can achieve a lot.”

[Zdenek] Zeman, when speaking about you, said that Roma’s problem is the changes to the team. What do you think about that?

“I have direct contact with the club. I’ve accepted this job, working with Roma as it is, with as much enthusiasm as possible. The end result will decide a lot of things. In games like this we can change our minds about one another. Our aim is to go hard right until the very end, never giving up, especially in the face of those who said we couldn’t succeed. We’ll fight until the end and then we’ll see how the ground lies. It would be unusual for us to have three or four bad games on the bounce.

"I think this team has shown a degree of consistency in their results and in their way of handling tough moments. We must not let our levels drop in any way and fight to earn that spot in the table. In the last ten games we’ve won eight, drawn one and lost one. We want to keep going in that way. At the end, we’ll be assessed. If that’s how things pan out, I think we’ll all have done a really good job. We’ve made important steps, building towards where we will be at the end of the season. To build on that, we’ll be able to do more good work in the future.”

[Federico] Fazio said the draw with Atalanta will not dampen the team’s strength. Is that the right way to prepare ahead of the Pescara game?

“We remain sure of our ability to keep on picking up results. We will try to win and show the quality we have, both in our players and in the way we play. It won’t be easy – and that goes for all those games coming up, including this one. Fazio is a great athlete, a good person, and an important player for Roma.”

[Marcello] Nicchi said we are ready for VARs. Are you in favour?

“Yes I am in favour. It’s clear that in certain situations it will make it easier to make the right decision. There are others where it’s not so easy to assess the impact of a tackle. But analysing the images closely will offer something. There are sometimes penalties awarded when the defender hasn’t touched the attacker – those are hard to take.

"Doubts will remain over certain incidents, but there will be greater certainty in many cases.”