Perotti ready for 'battle' against Napoli

Diego Perotti knows Roma need to up their level when they go up against Napoli at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday afternoon.

The Giallorossi return to action after the international break - and after a disappointing away defeat against SPAL - fully aware that they need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible, if they are to remain in the fight to finish in the top four in Serie A.

Napoli, out on their own in second in the table, will be no easy opponent, however - and Perotti is in no doubt Claudio Ranieri's side will need to raise their level in order to get a positive result.

“It will be a tough game, Napoli are a great side that have been together for a long time,” Perotti told Sky Sport Italia.

“But after the defeat against SPAL this game is even more important for us in the race for the top four. It will be a battle, and we need to give everything to win.”

He added: “Fourth is still a possibility, because we are only four points away – and there are 10 games still to play. The others will drop points along the way, but we have to think about what we need to do, to try to find our rhythm and our style, while knowing that we don’t have much room for error and dropping more points could be fatal."

What has Ranieri been asking of you since his arrival?

“He tries to put things in simple terms, he hasn’t asked anything strange of us or tried to make crazy changes that wouldn’t help us right now. He has been clear and concise, passing his confidence on to us. You can see he is a Romanista and wants the best for the team."

Ranieri has made the Dzeko-Schick partnership key. Can that become a lethal duo?

“For me it is always great to attack with two forwards in the middle. I like to move into the wide areas, I’m not one to take lots of shots on goal – I prefer to create assists, so with two forwards there are more opportunities to do that.”

In these last 10 games, what do Roma need to show?

“We have to be more united and more compact; if we all do our part then you can’t ask for more than that. At the end of the season I want to be able to go away on holiday knowing I did everything I could and the same goes for all my teammates.

"We need to give 100%, then at the end of May we will see where that takes us. If we fight for each other then we can do it."