Fonseca: Changes to come against Lecce

The game on Sunday gets underway at 15:00 local time.

Read everything the boss had to say about the match, along with some reflections on the midweek defeat against Atalanta.

Have you spoken to the team about possible psychological repercussions after the Atalanta game?

“As always, we sat down and analysed the match together to work out what didn't work well and where we need to improve.”

How are the players doing fitness-wise with all the back-to-back games?

“I'll make a few changes tomorrow because we have lots of matches in a short space of time. Some are feeling the fatigue more than others. My team selection will take all that into consideration.”

You're conceding more goals in the second half than the first. Do you think it's a problem of focus or fitness?

“I don't think we have a fitness problem. Just one week ago people were praising us for our fitness levels and now people are pointing the finger because we lost one game. We're not happy with the number of goals we've conceded. No one likes conceding an average of two per game. We're working to improve defensively but it's not just down to the defence – it depends on the team as a whole. We're scoring lots of goals and we need to find the right balance.”

You lost lots of individual duels against Atalanta. Do you think Roma need a bit more physicality to complete with other teams in Serie A?

“I don't think it's got anything to do with physicality; we just play a different way. We lost duels in attack and found it hard to shake off Atalanta's relentless man-marking. We're a strong team physically but we don't base our game on being physical. Atalanta's aggressive approach caused problems for us and when we find ourselves in that situation we need to find solutions to get our attacking game going.”

How is Nicolo Zaniolo? Will he start tomorrow?

“We'll see tomorrow who starts. I've spoken to him, as I have with all the players, in our post-match meeting to analyse the game.”

Chris Smalling did well on his debut. Is he capable of playing three games in a week?

“We'll see tomorrow. It's true that Atalanta was his first game but [Federico] Fazio has played every game so far. I'll decide tomorrow.”

With hindsight would you still opt for a three-man defence? Will you play a back three tomorrow?

“I'm not going to tell you how we're going to play tomorrow. I'll probably make changes in every area of the pitch. The problem wasn't the choice of formation. Sometimes people place too much importance on the formation when what really matters is the team dynamics.

"The system you play doesn't change your attacking dynamics. Against Atalanta found it hard to get moves going. We've analysed everything, including the second goal, when there was a lapse in focus. It was a team error.”

How are Leonardo Spinazzola and Lorenzo Pellegrini?

“They're both available and in excellent condition.”

Do you think you might use a three-man defence again? It was a system you used several times at Shakhtar.

“Playing with a back three, a change we made during the game, has nothing to do with what I might have done in the past – it was a strategy we chose for Atalanta. I think we played well defensively and the goals weren't down to how our defence was lined up. That system doesn't alter our attacking dynamics.

"We start moves with three even when we defend with four. We just need a bit more confidence at times when defending. I won't exclude playing with three at the back in future if I think it's a good strategy for us to use.”

How is Henrikh Mkhitaryan?

“He didn't start on Wednesday because it wasn't the sort of game he was best suited to. He's fine physically.”

There are lots of teams like Atalanta in Italy. Do your players need a bit more tactical intelligence to deal with situations like that?

“It's true that lots of teams play like that but no one does it as well as Atalanta. It's not easy to play around the sort of pressure they put you under. It was difficult to play our brand of football. We weren't good enough at adapting to the situation we found ourselves in.”