Mirante: We need to take advantage of Sampdoria boost

The Giallorossi have seven games remaining in a campaign where they still have a lot of work to do to qualify for next season’s Champions League – starting with Saturday’s home clash against Udinese.

Mirante may have some mixed memories of the opponent – his first start for Roma came against the side, although it ended in a 1-0 defeat – but he knows there is no room for error as the two sides meet again at the Stadio Olimpico.

Last weekend’s victory over Sampdoria has boosted the mood around the club, but Claudio Ranieri’s side need to turn that into a sustained run of good form in order to achieve their objectives.

“Last week’s win has given us a new perspective as far as the Champions League goes, we need to be focused and determined,” Mirante told Sky Sport Italia.

“The coach knows everything about football, he knows which buttons to push with his players. We have a slightly different way of playing now, even from the goalkeepers, so this has sharpened minds a bit too – especially as we are fighting for the European spots and qualifying is fundamental for the club.”

Udinese are fighting to confirm their place in the top-flight for another season, with new coach Igor Tudor having seen a positive response since his arrival.

“Changing manager has given Udinese a real boost; we saw in the last few games that they have been doing very well,” Mirante noted.

“They have some players in good form and have got a few other key names back after injury. They have some strong individual players, like Okaka, Lasagna, De Paul.”

Mirante has started the last two games for Ranieri, seemingly supplanting Robin Olsen in the pecking order.

“I have always trained well alongside Robin, who is honestly a great goalkeeper and a fantastic person, a real special guy,” Mirante noted.

“With the goalkeeper coach all three of us [including Daniel Fuzato] train hard, as if all of us were playing at the weekend.”