Fonseca previews Torino's visit to Rome

The Stadio Olimpico will host the two sides on Sunday evening, with kick-off scheduled for 20:45 local time.

Here's what the boss had to say ahead of the contest...

How's the team looking after the break?

“Good. We've had a really good week of training. The players are in decent shape and motivated. It's important to get the year off to a strong start. We need a good performance tomorrow because it's important to win.”

What are you expecting from Torino?

“Torino are always tricky to play against. They've won two and drawn one of their last three away games. We're expecting a strong, determined and aggressive side. It's going to be very difficult.”

Gianluca Petrachi has said Nikola Kalinic is not going anywhere in January and also that you're going to give Bruno Peres a second chance. Do you think you can give them a new lease of life?

“Kalinic has been training well and is improving by the week. I expect he'll feature more in the second half of the season. It's not easy to change players in the January window. It's important Kalinic stays here – I think he'll have a big role to play.

“Bruno Peres is a Roma player who has come back after a loan. Petrachi knows him well and we've spoken about him. He's trained with us the last two days and we'll see if he can help us. He needs to work on his fitness at the moment, then we'll see how he's looking.”

What do you think of Zlatan Ibrahimovic coming back to Italy? What can he bring to Serie A?

“I don't like talking about players who belong to other clubs but he's a fabulous footballer. Having top-calibre players helps boost the visibility of Serie A.”

Do you think Roma could win a trophy this year?

“I don't think it's right to place that sort of pressure on the players. We've started a new process and changed lots of personnel. We're improving slowly but surely. We just have to focus on the next game, against Torino, and try to win it.”

You've said that Nicolo Zaniolo has improved a lot. How can he improve further?

“All players have room for improvement. Zaniolo's tactical awareness wasn't always perfect but now he looks to break into space at the right time. He needs to improve his decision-making but he's a fantastic talent – I think he could go on to become one of the best players in Italy.”

How has the club takeover gone down in the dressing room? Have you asked the management about it?

“We haven't spoken about it. I'm the coach. I speak to Guido [Fienga] a lot and I know what's going on at the club. I have no worries there.”

Are you disappointed with Cengiz Under? Is he still in your thoughts or would you let him leave if an offer came in for him?

“I'm not thinking about letting any of our players leave at the moment. Cengiz is a member of our team but I can only pick 11 players and Zaniolo is in good form. Under needs to keep working away and take his chances when he gets them.”

How are Justin Kluivert and Javier Pastore?

“Kluivert has started training with us again. I've spoken to the medical staff and he's not great so I wouldn't want to risk him. He may be ready to return after the Juventus game. Pastore's situation is different. He has a bone oedema and it's not easy to fix. He'll need more time.”

Roma face a run of important games which will nearly all be played in the evening. Do you think that could affect the team's performances?

“I don't like it when we only have 72 hours between games – that's happened to us a lot. I know it's to do with TV scheduling but it's not good when the players don't have time to recover.”

Torino are one of the Serie A teams that makes the most fouls. Are you happy with the way your own team fouls when you lose the ball?

“If I say yes then everyone will say it's not right to promote foul play. Of course the team needs to react when you lose the ball and when you're not able to regain possession sometimes you might commit a foul.”

What could you have achieved if you'd had a full-strength squad available this season?

“I don't like talking about the past. The reality is we've had to play lots of games without lots of our players but on many occasions we've played well. I don't like looking for excuses. The situation is what it is. When we've had difficult spells the players available have worked well and performed well. I don't like to spend much time thinking about the past or the future – I'm focused on the present, which is our game against Torino tomorrow.”