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Spalletti satisfied after seeing side continue Villarreal form

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The boss praised his side's professional display after they followed up Thursday's 4-0 win against Villarreal with a similarly emphatic 4-1 triumph against Torino on Sunday

Luciano Spalletti praised his side's professional display after they followed up Thursday's 4-0 win against Villarreal with a similarly emphatic 4-1 triumph against Torino on Sunday.

The Giallorossi eased to the three points at the Stadio Olimpico, thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko, Mohamed Salah, Leo Paredes and Radja Nainggolan.

Spalletti admitted in the aftermath that he was worried Thursday's success would see his players relax - but was pleased to be disproved.

“The lads did well tonight because after the great win against Villarreal there was a risk that our tempo would drop off and that would have played into Torino’s hands," Spalletti said. "As it happened we looked good out there, pressing from the off and showing what we’re about.

"The tempo did drop after we went 2-0 up – perhaps we needed to do more there.”

You’re focusing on getting every little detail right. Is that the winning mentality you’ve been speaking about?

“That’s the way it has to be. Our rivals are doing well and if we lose focus we risk them overtaking us. That’s the only thing we can be thinking about. We want to have great evenings like this with our fans – we want to score goals and win football matches.”

Where has the team improved the most?

“I think that there’s been clear improvement across the board. For Roma to be competing for positions with teams of the calibre of Inter, Napoli, AC Milan and Lazio, you can’t just improve in one area. You need to make real progress in all areas and you also need to get great players back like [Francesco] Totti. You need more than one leader like Totti in a team if you want to stay up there in the table, because our rivals have several of them.”

Edin Dzeko is in unbelievable form at the moment. How important is he for you this season?

“Dzeko has started believing he’s a top striker and that is a massive boost for us. He can feel the confidence of the club and his team-mates, who have improved with him and in turn fuel his confidence. We made four changes from the Villarreal match and that shows that our squad is in good shape and everyone wants to show that they’re proper players. Edin is an important player – he’s had to suffer the judgements made about him last season.

"He’s a smashing lad, loves the dressing room banter and trains well. He shows willing and he’s humble, polite. He needed to discover his form. I told him that I had confidence in him and even flattered him a bit – that’s necessary too.”

There was a nice dedication to Alessandro Florenzi on the shirts tonight...

“We put a No.24 on the shirts. Him being with us in the dressing room made us realise what he’s made of, as a player and a person.”