Di Francesco: I did not get the response I wanted

The Giallorossi are through to the knockout phase of the competition - having previously secured second spot - but nevertheless saw their winless run extended at the Doosan Arena, despite Cengiz Under's second half goal.

Luca Pellegrini was sent off in the closing stages.

Roma wanted a win and a good performance, neither of which happened. Did some players fail to heed your call to arms?

“These matches must also give us cause to reflect and assess ourselves as men. I did not get the response I wanted. We started well and had great possession, but every time they countered, they caused us serious problems. A team like Roma cannot allow this to happen, even when our opponents are playing this game as their last-chance saloon.”

You always speak of defending as a team rather than just those positions. We didn’t see that tonight.

“Perhaps we’re in a difficult spell generally, it’s true. This is our biggest flaw at the moment: we’re conceding too many chances to our opponents and we’re not defending with any consistency. This meant that in so many situations, both individually and in the fifty-fifties, they were able to get the better of us and at a certain point you just can’t allow this.”

There were plenty of chances that certain players, like Javier Pastore and Patrik Schick, should have taken. Why aren’t they playing at their best in this context?

“I’d speak more of a team issue. We all expect a different performance from certain players, these are displays that I’ll take on board to make my conclusions.”

On Sunday evening you play Genoa in a crucial match in the race for fourth spot.

“Everything becomes crucial, for the overall environment. Today the result mattered less, but I was interested in seeing the performance and I must say that what I saw was half-baked. Let’s look forward and focus on Sunday’s game which will be very important.”

Given the current situation and the fact some injured players are coming back, are there some assessments to be made in view of the January transfer window?

“To play for Roma we all must produce more, starting from the coach. We all must put ourselves under the spotlight and a lot of evaluations will definitely be made ahead of the transfer window.”