Luciano Spalletti press conference before Carpi v Roma

Will you rotate the team against Carpi with Real Madrid in mind?

“We're focusing solely on the next game, although that would be a natural consideration to make given that we have a few players back now. Nonetheless, tomorrow's game is our priority.”

Given that the top four teams are all playing each other this weekend, would you say this match is an opportunity you have to seize?

“Every game is an opportunity as long as you focus on it. If you're thinking about the game coming after the next one then you'll get it wrong. Juventus have won 14 games in a row, Napoli eight. If we want to compete with those teams and be a top-level side we have to live in the here and now. We want to be up there with the best and to do that we have to win lots of games in a row. That's why tomorrow is a crucial game.”

Edin Dzeko trained this week…

“He'll play.”

If Dzeko plays, who will you leave out up front?

“Telling a player that he's going to play is a good message to send out from a psychological perspective. Telling someone they won't play is not a good thing for a coach to do.”

How are Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi?

“I have a piece of paper here with everyone's condition on it. [Norbert] Gyomber is out with his foot problem. [Vasilis] Torosidis is making progress and trained well today but he won't make the squad for this one. Daniele De Rossi is not available yet but the medical team working with him at the moment say he'll be ok again soon and I hope to have him back after Carpi. Totti came through training fine on after our match. After a rest day he trained well again but yesterday he had a bit of a problem with his calf. He had some tests and seemed ok, we were optimistic today but then he felt the same twinge again so he didn't train and he won't be coming with us. [Antonio] Rudiger is ok and we'll take [Abdullahi] Nura and [Omar] Sadiq with us too after their involvement in the Youth League.”

Could you have a balanced side with Dzeko, [Diego] Perotti, [Mohamed] Salah, [Stephan] El Shaarawy and [Miralem] Pjanic all in the same team?

“Dzeko, Perotti, Salah, El Shaarawy and Pjanic – yes, they could play together. They offer different skills and you find your balance if everyone is prepared to help out.”

Has [Walter] Sabatini told you he might leave since the end of the transfer window?

“That's something that's been written several times and as there's always a chance that someone might know something I went up to ask him and he said that it's right that he should do a bit of self-assessment at the moment, so it's a possibility. We have a run of games coming up, he's staying where he is and we're all moving forward together. He has an important role at Roma with a high level of responsibility. At this moment in time he's said it's right to do some self-assessment. We'll see after the next few games. Either we get results or we've all failed together.”

Could [Radja] Nainggolan drop back into midfield?

“Moving a player's position by ten yards is something we can do as we have lots of midfielders. We don't have the same depth up front.”

What do you think of Salih Ucan?

“Ucan is a wonderful footballer with great technique. He's like [David] Pizarro as he's got a great range of passing, he can move the ball about, keep hold of it and he reads the game well. You need other things too in Italy but I can see he's improving constantly."

Perhaps the biggest danger against Carpi is that the team could ease off mentally, as you said after the Sampdoria game?

“The biggest danger is Carpi's coach, Fabrizio Castori. He might not be a big name but in my view he's a great coach. He knows how to instil key concepts in his players. They come at you in your own half and if they wait for you on the edge of their own box they always leave two players halfway up the pitch: [Matteo] Mancosu and [Kevin] Lasagna set off at a thousand miles an hour and the first thing they try to do when they win possession is play it in behind the defence for those two to run onto. We know that's how they play but we have to be ready to defend well against it. They're also enjoying a decent spell of form. They only lost in Florence to a piece of individual magic and they gave very little away against Napoli. They're in great form and they've shown they can hold their own against great teams. We can't afford to waste energy thinking about anything else.”

You had lots of words for Lucas Digne against Juventus. What is it you ask him to do exactly?

“I do talk to my players. Someone wrote that I had a go at Rudiger and [Kostas] Manolas after the game against Sampdoria. I told them they'd played well because they'd read certain situations well. There's a subtle difference between a back four and a back three. You shouldn't forget history either. In the past teams used to play with a sweeper, two man-to-man markers, a wing-back and a winger. But if you look Fiorentina – who play an innovative brand of football – that's how they play. For months people were wondering it he [Paulo Sousa] was playing with three, four or five at the back. It changes depending on the situation in the game – they read match situations and that's the way forward.”