Di Criscio: Playing in Verona will be very emotional for me

“Verona is like my second home – it has represented my family for many years, so returning to that field will be very emotional for me,” said the Roma defender. “It’ll be a special game for me, but regardless we’ll go there to get a result and put in the same performance as always. Verona are a tough side to face with lots of quality young players with big prospects, so it definitely won’t be an easy game. They’ll want to get a win so we need to make sure our approach is right. We need to focus on continuing the work we’ve started.”

On the first three games of the league season…

“After the first game of the season we realised what we’d done wrong and that we’d wasted a chance. We’d worked really hard over the summer and we wanted to start strong straight away, but unfortunately our approach to the first game was wrong and we ended up losing the match in the last 20 minutes even though it had been even up until then. We wanted to bounce back against Fiorentina and get the result, so that was where our attitude and the belief in our ability changed. Our performance in the Empoli match was exactly as we’d prepared it – we pressed the opposition continually to make sure they couldn’t get out.

“I think the league will be much more competitive this season. I think there’ll be a lot more draws this year whereas there haven’t been many in previous seasons. All of the clubs have strengthened significantly and the way of working has improved too. We have lots more facilities thanks to the investment from the clubs. There’s been a change and that will last.”

On the objectives for the season…

“From a team perspective we want to finish as high up as possible. We deserve that because of all the work we did last year and on account of how we’re doing right now. I hope the work we’ve done with the coaching staff means we’re able to achieve our objective in the league or qualify for the Champions League, which would be a big step forward in itself. On a personal level, I just want to play as much as possible.”

On making her 200th Serie A appearance in Roma v AC Milan…

“Looking back I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices – it’s been an uphill struggle all the way. I’ve seen a lot of changes. The 200-appearance milestone is really important to me and I hope to make another 200! I just hope that the changes continue and that there is ongoing growth, not just for me but also for everyone coming into the sport and for the girls who are just getting into football – they will definitely have a clearer path. I didn’t have that before, but I’m starting to see it now.”

Saturday’s game against Verona gets underway at 15:00 local time.

The game will be broadcast live on Twitter and Facebook.