Luciano Spalletti's pre-Pescara press conference in full

See what Luciano Spalletti had to say about Sunday's visitors to the Stadio Olimpico...

Roma host Pescara in Serie A on Sunday evening, looking to bounce back after last weekend's disappointing defeat against Atalanta.

See what the Giallorossi coach had to say when he faced the media. As usual, he began by delivering an injury update on his squad.

“[Francesco] Totti is training with the rest of the team. Mario Rui will play for the Primavera today and if all goes well he'll be back with us again next week. [Kostas] Manolas and [Stephan] El Shaarawy have had muscle problems and they're training individually for now. They should rejoin the squad around the middle of next week.”

Roma go into this match against Pescara as favourites. What kind of game are you expecting?

“It's a tricky game because sometimes what seems easy is very dangerous. If you want things to be easy, you should make them difficult. Our Europa League match took a lot out of us because we needed to win it to make sure we qualified for the knockout stage. The players were ready for it mentally and they performed well. We've only had a couple of days and we used up a lot of energy so we must be very careful tomorrow.”

It could be Daniele De Rossi's 400th game for the club.

“We can congratulate him on that now. They've all been important games and he's achieved great results. Daniele is a Roma man through and through and he's always shown he's got the team's best interests at heart. Well done and keep it up.”

Is it always the coach's fault when a team is found wanting mentally?

“As far as I'm concerned, it's down to the coach. The club can play a big part too but we all need to believe we can make a difference to the team's fortunes.”

Is Kevin Strootman underperforming at the moment?

“It's natural that after a strong start you then need to bit of time to adjust when you might not be quite so sharp. There's no problem in terms of his commitment but he can improve his speed of thought. There's no issue, though. We have to keep playing him and showing him the importance he deserves. Strootman is a crucial player for us.”

Could [Antonio] Rudiger experience a similar dip?

“If Rudiger starts thinking more slowly we'll be in trouble because there's no one behind him but the keeper. When you talk to him, you realise that he recovers quickly after playing. His knee is fine so we'll carry on as we are, remembering that we have a guy like [Thomas] Vermaelen working his way back. He's got stuck into a few challenges and shown his pace. He's getting close – he just needs to up his fitness levels a notch now.”

How's Gerson doing?

“I think Gerson has improved. There have been times when I've opted for what I felt was a safer option but he could have played. He's increased his intensity and the physical side of his game, which opens up the possibility of seeing him in different roles. From a technical point of view, he's got skill, pace and quick decision-making. I could play him in front of the defence, which is a position where you need to be able to hold your own physically and I think he's improved a lot in that area. He's a player we need to keep working with so that we can get the best out of him. It's not clear that his best position is and at his age you could imagine something changing there before he becomes the finished article.”

Is there a difference between Roma and Juventus in terms of character and can you improve it?

“Perhaps we could do that by talking about it less. It's easier if you go into things calmly and confidently. You have to leave players be and let them express their talent. Character is how you act in different situations, for example being able to endure things without reacting. That's something you can work on to make sure the lads give a bit extra. But yes, we can improve in terms of character.”

How are Roma doing at set pieces?

“It's an area we must improve because our opponents are doing better than us there at the moment. Sometimes we don't take them very well and sometimes we need to be a bit more physical. Others are better at it than us. We focus more on playing the ball on the deck but we must be very careful tomorrow because Pescara are dangerous from set pieces. They also have lots of former Roma players who will be really up for this one. These are all things we need to be aware of and we must be more careful. It's another game where we'll have to work our socks off to get a result.”