Fonseca: This is an opportunity to show our progress

The Giallorossi head to Bologna for Sunday's Serie A match, with kick-off at 15:00 local time.

How are the players looking after your Europa League match?

“The lads are fine physically and raring to go. We were able to make several changes to our line-up in Europe so tomorrow we'll use some of the guys were didn't play in midweek.”

This is your first game of the season away from the Olimpico you'll find yourselves up against one of Serie A's form teams. What will you need to be especially careful of?

“This is an excellent opportunity for us to see what we're capable of. We're playing a great side who are in the top half of the table, unbeaten with two wins and a draw. They have good players and they'll be fired up too. They play with the same character as their coach. It's going to be a very tricky game but we're ready for this sort of challenge.”

In the first few games you played with two defensive midfielders in front of the defence while in the Europa League you went with more of a playmaker in Amadou Diawara. Which is your preferred option?

“First of all, the Europa League was a different sort of game – that's why we picked a more physical player in Diawara. Given the sort of league Serie A is, I prefer to play with two defensive midfielders and tomorrow I'll go with [Bryan] Cristante and [Jordan] Veretout.

"The team selection defends on the game and the playing system our opponents are using. Sometimes we want to press higher so we might play with one plus two, and if we want to build play we do the opposite. It always depends on the match and the opposition.”

Henrikh Mkhitaryan wasted no time in showing what a good player he is but he seemed to wane physically in the second half. Do you expect to get more minutes out of him against Bologna?

“He's fine physically – he's in excellent condition. He'd already played for Arsenal. He was superb against Sassuolo and we hadn't had many chances to train with him since he joined. That said, he's still got plenty of room for improvement.”

Kolarov hasn't been rested yet – could that happen tomorrow?

“Kolarov has played every game but we can't rest everyone. We'll see tomorrow whether or not he plays.”

Is Chris Smalling ready to return?

“Chris started training with us again after the Europa League but after a spell on the sidelines he's obviously not 100%. He's doing personalised fitness work so that we can have him back to his best for the next game.”

Will you adopt the same approach tomorrow even though you're playing away from home?

“Knowing how good our opponents are and the excellent form they're in, we won't change the way we play or approach the match. Of course we'll need to get our strategy right for this game but our playing philosophy won't change.”

Do you need to improve your possession play too, since that's so important for your style of football?

“I've seen that it's difficult to really dominate possession-wise here in Italy because the other teams are so good. We have improved but it depends on the type of match. It's certainly something we have to keep working on to improve. All the teams here are quality, they all like to play, so it's not easy to establish a clear superiority in possession.”

What do you think of the work Sinisa Mihjalovic is doing?

“I was sad to hear about his health problems but he's a fighter. We'll be opponents tomorrow but I wish him a quick recovery. I'm sure he'll win this battle.”

Do you see Leonardo Spinazzola as more of a right-back than a left-back solution at the moment?

“I've used him on the right so far, partly due to [Davide] Zappacosta's injury, but he can play on the left too."

How much work did you have to do when you arrived? Was there a negative atmosphere?

“It's too early in our journey to make that sort of assessment. The way we conduct ourselves is important: I'm a very positive, optimistic person and I try to get that mindset across to my players. Of course you need to be level-headed too: just because you win doesn't mean everything is fine and likewise losing doesn't necessarily mean you played badly.

"Generally speaking if you don't believe in what you're doing, you're unlikely to achieve anything. It's important to maintain a sense of proportion. These lads have always been receptive and positive in these first few months working together.”

Given that Bologna are a very physical side, will you try to match them on that level or try to play a different sort of game?

“We're both very physical sides who like to play man for man in different stages of the game. That's something we've been focusing on. I believe we can play that way with the dynamism and quality we've been working on in the little time we've had to prepare for this match. In any case, you always have to be up for a physical battle and I think the team are ready for that.”