El Shaarawy: We're delighted with the way we're improving

El Shaarawy scored with a clever lob midway through the second half - a strike he admitted was "important" for his confidence - as the Giallorossi cruised to a 4-0 win in the Coppa Italia last-16 tie.

And the Italy international believes the team's growing resolve and developing mentality was on display once again.

“I saw that the goalkeeper had started coming out but then checked back and I knew that I’d be able to score if I lobbed him," El Shaarawy said. "It was important for me to score in the second half because I’d missed a couple of chances before the break.”

Roma are showing that they’re able to dig in and pull through.

“We’ve got a lot better at managing possession. When it’s time to play it around we play it around, when it’s time to hold onto it we hold onto it and when it’s time to get it forward we pick our moment. We’re developing as a side and gaining more and more belief in our abilities. We’re doing a better job of digging in than we have in the past and that’s very important.”

It was a really complete performance from you tonight.

“I showed desire, created chances, participated in the play and gave everything I had. I know that [Luciano] Spalletti likes it that way.”

Is the team almost becoming obsessed with winning at the moment?

“Yeah – it’s really important to achieve consistency in our performances and results. We got those six points on the road thanks to our determination, our heart, our desire. We’re delighted with the improvement we’re showing and we need to be aiming high. We can’t put any limits on ourselves – there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be looking to achieve big things.”