Spalletti: Roma fans deserve these displays

"The lads have worked hard recently and our supporters have been behind them throughout because even though some people won't come to the stadium they still show their support when you go around the city," announced the Giallorossi coach after the match. "They came down to the Olimpico today and there was a great party atmosphere.

"The team and the fans deserve these kinds of displays."

The Giallorossi were lounging in fifth place when the Tuscan coach came back for his second spell in charge and are now right behind Napoli in second.

"I'm calm right at the moment. When I came back I had 200 messages saying the same thing: 'Restore our dignity'. This was what our fans cared about. We had to work hard but if you have top-quality players you can expect to hit certain numbers."

Do you believe in Giampiero Ventura?

"I believe in sport generally. I'm convinced that Napoli face a difficult game this evening against Torino, just as it wasn't easy for us against Chievo. It's in their hands but I'm sure Maurizio Sarri's team will be made to work for it."

The team came under pressure unexpectedly after 2-0.

"I just don't understand this aspect of my team. At certain moments in matches we could take control of proceedings but instead the players begin to lose possession, take on difficult passes and allow the opposition to get a grip of the contest. We start to struggle and at this point the opponents seize the moment to bring their quality to the fore. It was the same with Chievo who are a decent outfit. If it weren't for Szczesny playing well, the post doing its job or Antonio Rudiger and Kostas Manolas putting their bodies on the line it could have become much more tricky. But paradoxically we had strolled into a 2-0 lead before that. In terms of character and experience in the team, we should be managing these situations differently."

Has there been enough recognition for what your players have done?

"There hasn't been any recognition at all. If you go back and think about all those games we had to play with Inter and Fiorentina in front of us, it was really hard to imagine us tackling this run of games so calmly. We couldn't afford any slip-ups and we had to train in the same manner throughout. In the last few days the players were focused on one thing only and that was today's game, so they deserve a huge compliment for their approach and professionalism, a quality which isn't always easy to find.

"I'd like to thank them because looking at the stats our numbers are impressively high. You need to put in the hard yards to hit that mountain of numbers and the squad doesn't always get thanked for what they have achieved. It seems impossible but we've made it possible time and again. We trained with the impossible in mind."