Gasperini's media conference before Inter clash

“As always after the international break, the squad split into two groups. Those who played for their national teams – most of them – trained with us for the first time yesterday. Some of them came back a day earlier. [Evan] Ndicka will have his first session today, but all this is normal after the break. We've had two good weeks of training with all the others who stayed here.”

How is Paulo Dybala? Is there a chance he could start the game? You've told us before that he would only play centre forward as an emergency option. Could tomorrow be an emergency situation?

“Everyone knows the options we have and we won't be moving away from those. Like all the others who stayed, Dybala has had two good weeks. We've been able to train well. It was definitely useful for him and [Lorenzo] Pellegrini, and for everyone really.“I have to say I'm happy with what we've done. Of course you have a better idea of the condition of the players who stayed. It's a bit harder to know how the players who were on international duty are doing. Lots of them played, some a bit more, some a bit less. This is always the big question mark everyone has after the international break.”

We've read and heard several Roma players talking about the Champions League being a target the team wants to reach. I'd like to ask if that's a target the owners gave you when you sat down to talk, or is it just the natural ambition for a team that's currently top?

“Everyone talks about qualifying for the Champions League for a very simple reason: it brings in a load of money. It's the only real target. No one talks about the title. It almost seems no one's interested in winning the title; the main thing is finishing in the top four. Precisely for that reason. All the teams have that goal for that reason.“Then there are football goals, which are different to financial goals, and they're something you assess game by game, season by season. I make football assessments and for now we're in a good position. We're trying to give it our best.“I'd say that our main goal is tomorrow night, when we'll be involved in a top-level match. We're top and we're playing Inter, who together with Milan undoubtedly have the best team. Everyone agrees on that: if you look at what they've done in Italy and in the Champions League, they're an extraordinary team. Going into this game as we are I think is already a good achievement. We'll see about other things further down the line.”

You've always said, 'Let's wait at least until the halfway point of the season before looking at targets.' But it's also true that not all games are equal. Could tomorrow's game alter anything? I mean, could it tell you something more about the quality of your squad or do you already have clear ideas?

“We all have clear ideas. We've all formed our opinions of the strengths and the difficulties. That goes for us as it does for anyone else. We're at the start of the season and we all hope to improve our performances.“At this stage the performances are important – because it's the performances that convince you and give you confidence, regardless of the results. If we're talking about squads then I listen to everyone's opinion, and generally people say there are some squads – like our opponents tomorrow evening – that are better. But that's not a reason to blame anyone or feel any resentment. We're working to try and close the gap with those who might be ahead of us. Hopefully we can do that through our work.”

Will tomorrow's match be easier to read than when you played Inter while at Atalanta?

"No, it's not a case of being easier to read. When Juventus were really good, it was really difficult to beat them – I mean when they won eight, nine titles. When Inter became very good, it became difficult to beat them – not only for Atalanta, but I think for all teams. And when Inter weren't quite so good, it was possible to beat them.“I think on a tactical level, the teams know each other well. On one occasion we lost badly; in other cases the games were more even. That time I think it was the second or third game of the season.“Of course we're up against a top-quality side but it's a great challenge for us, a way for us to see how we measure up. You get the best measure against the best teams. You understand and see how well you can compete with them, or at least how well you can compete with them in a one-off match. Fortunately in football sometimes you can win or get a result even when you don't perform at your best.”

You said that you had eight or nine players of a certain level and that the others needed to step up a bit to reach that level. Has anything changed there? Have some of the others made that step up? And regarding Niccolo Pisilli, he did really well for Italy U21s in a different position – playing box to box in a midfield three. Have his initial difficulties been more to do with his particular attributes or is it something else? Does he struggle more in a two-man midfield?

“He doesn't struggle in a two- or a three-man midfield. He's a player with huge potential. Right now we have some excellent players. Would you leave out [Manu] Kone or [Bryan] Cristante? At the moment Kone, Cristante and [Neil] El Ayanoui are playing. Actually Pisilli has played and hopefully with time he'll play more, but right now others are playing.“We have a very strong, very solid core who are always there whether we win or lose, who consistently produce top performances and results. Then we have a load of players, youngsters, who are improving and growing. Now we'll have Dybala back and soon we should have [Leon] Bailey too. Then we have Pellegrini back, [Devyne] Rensch, El Ayanoui... We don't only have eight or nine players. Obviously you need more. It's a squad and in certain areas we have an abundance. You need more matches to obtain better performances.”

What's the matter with Angelino?

​“There's a medical report and you should refer to that.”

What do you want to ask of the Roma fans in terms of their support at the stadium?

“You don't need to ask anything of the fans – they're already incredibly passionate. They're a fantastic part of the stadium. It's up to us to get all that enthusiasm on our side and make sure it gives the team an even bigger push.“The most important thing for us is that we produce a top performance, a bold performance against a team that, as I've said, are without doubt one of the best in Europe, not just in Italy. If we can manage that, I'm sure our fans will show their appreciation.”

How close are you to getting the very best out of this Roma team? And if Roma are able to reach their full potential, why can't you challenge for the title?

“Everyone has the right to an opinion. I respect them all and it's not up to me to change them. I've already said we'll try to improve. What does that mean? Improving our results would be quite hard, wouldn't it? I think it's difficult to do better than 15 points from 18. But we can certainly improve our performances.“We can play better, although I think we've played well already, otherwise we wouldn't have the points we have. That's what we have to do. I'm not going to get into the 'You can win the league' or 'You can finish top four' discussion.”

Inter are a little hard to predict as they'll be missing some players tomorrow. Can we expect to see more from Roma tactically or in terms of character?

“I hope both. In games like this, you have to do everything well. In any case, Inter have a much bigger squad. I don't know how many players they'll be missing tomorrow but I don't think it will be that many. I am expecting Inter to be very determined to make up for the points they've dropped in some of the previous games and get into a more fitting position in the table. I expect Inter will come here and try to win to get back up near the top. I think it will be a great match in that sense.”

In the derby we saw Pellegrini blocking the opponents' main playmaker – in the case of Lazio, Nicolo Rovella. Is that something you might try again, considering that Hakan Calhanoglu will probably be playing for Inter?

“Yes, it's one option. When we play, there are always different options, not just one. But that is certainly one of our options”

With Angelino out, are we likely to see Rensch on the left again, given the strength of the opponents?

“It's one option. We have [Kostas] Tsimikas at left-back and then we have Rensch and Wesley who can play on the left. We have these three players and two of them will play.”

What are you expecting from Bailey when he returns? Did you expect to have to do without him for two months?

 “No, I certainly didn't expect it. We all hoped his injury would be less serious but it took the time it took. The only good thing is that we're now quite close. I think he should be available in a week or two.“Obviously when a player's had a long spell on the sidelines, they need to be introduced gradually. I don't think he'll come straight in and hit the ground running. It will take time. But we have to start looking forward. I certainly think he's a player who can help us a lot. He offers slightly different things to the other players in the squad. He's a player we're all counting on.”