Luciano Spalletti's pre-Crotone press conference in full

See everything the boss had to say in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's game against Crotone.

As usual, the boss began by giving an update on the fitness of his squad.

“[Alessandro] Florenzi is working hard," Spalletti said. "[Francesco] Totti had a stomach bug last night.

"He came in this morning and went straight home with the flu.”

[Mohamed] Salah’s return could change something. Could you revert to a back four?

“That option already existed but it always depends on the game and the opposition. It’s always an advantage to be able to change things. It’s useful to know your best team but the ideal situation is to be able to use the ability and intelligence of the players to alter something during a match. It’s by no means easy however.”

Crotone played well against Juventus. Is it a tougher match than it looks on paper?

“Juve aren’t the only side to have struggled against Crotone. There are lots of teams who broke the deadlock at the death, like AC Milan at home. [Davide] Nicola is doing a job there. He’s a coach who works well and you can see that from the positive messages he conveys to the team. He’s kept them on their toes so far despite their league position.

"We must put in a strong performance and know where we’re headed. We mustn’t only think about how good the opposition are, we must be aware of what we have to produce to win the match. If we lose to Crotone, we have to look at it as Napoli and Juve getting a result. All of our opponents are wearing blue and black and white, as they’re the sides above us. We have dropped some points along the way against them and not only against our opponents.”

February is a crucial month. How are the team looking?

“The team is fit and firing, as they showed in our last game. A lot of the players who have come back in allow us to make changes. We’ll maintain the same performance levels even if we have to occasionally make changes. We have a large number of top-quality players in the squad.”

What impact have [Radja] Nainggolan’s comments had?

“It’s simple. From my perspective, I know what goes on and what dangers we’ll come up against. What he produces on the pitch, where he never shirks a challenge, is there for all to see. You lot know him well, he’s a lovely lad. His competitive edge is combined with integrity and professionalism. You shouldn’t judge him on a couple of silly comments he made to a few people outside a bar, who turned out to be snakes in the grass.

"That video tries to portray the boy in an unfair light. I still have the image of Nainggolan the footballer, not the one in the video. We’re not a motley crew of footballers thrown together. We’re a team and we have a common spirit which sees everyone take something from the guy next to him. We’re only interested in tomorrow’s match.”

What’s your minimum target to stay here?

"My aim is to work as hard as I can and put across my obsession to the players. That in turns creates a will to win, where possible. I mustn't let Roma get away from me. That's why I have to start sending out strong messages. I must deserve to be at Roma. I mustn't think about signing a contract. This is a wonderful place and we have a great opportunity. We should protect this environment - it's not rough. It needs to be looked after like a garden full of little flowers - let's maintain it as it is. We must be a brand, a wolf ready to pounce on every ball. That's a trademark, a shared goal on a daily basis. That's what matters to us more than anything."

Does the controversy from this week risk destabilising the team’s title chase?

“That happens every week and we’re used to it. That can always happen. I don’t know if it affects our focus. I know what our goals must be and our willingness to look at where we are in the league table. Nothing else matters to me. The media are there to write headlines. We must make sure we only look at what’s important. You can interpret what happened with Radja in completely different ways. It all depends on your personal agenda.”

What sort of occasion will the derby under lights be for you?

“That’s a show of faith that we mustn’t squander. They’ve backed us. We must behave ourselves and do things the right way to get more people coming to the stadium and make grounds more exciting. Certain signals should be welcomed the right way. The tension surrounding the match tends to filter through to the players too. We need to look at what they do in countries where people are better behaved and learn from them. It’s simple.”

You’ve talked about creating Roma’s own style. How far along are you?

"I'm pleased to see what we have here. There are people working till late at night. I don't run the rule over anything but I check as much as I can the work that goes on around the team and that the approach is right. We have a president who's always coming up with new ideas which help us to move forward. There are lots of people working very hard. It's only fair we give them credit. So to the players, who have improved. We're always used to [Francesco] Totti because we haven't found anyone like him and we must work to unearth more than one. It's a consistent process.

"[Edin] Dzeko is close to matching his work ethic, the same goes for [Kevin] Strootman and [Daniele] De Rossi is focused. [Federico] Fazio is a wonderful human being and [Antonio] Rudiger, while young, is very fond of Roma and gives all he can to win matches. These are all positive signs. If you asked me 'would you swap your players for those from another team?' I'd say no. We set high standards here and never budge an inch. We simply must improve our mentality. But the level must always be high."