Di Francesco: Tomorrow we need to fight for everything

The game at the Estadio do Dragao gets underway at 20:00 local time (21:00 in Rome).

Sergio Conceicao has told his players to keep calm. How are you preparing for tomorrow's match?

“I'm not going to say that publicly. It will be a long game. They're a goal behind and we'll need to be good at defending and then hit them on the break. We're going to need a really strong defensive display, then the rest will come as a result.”

Are you considering playing Ivan Marcano in defence and Alessandro Florenzi further up the pitch?

“Anything is possible. The lads know they must always be ready to step into the team. I'm not going to tell you today who will play tomorrow – the players don't even know that themselves. I want to make that call at the end: I want to look into the eyes of my players then decide who to send out to battle.”

Is this your toughest spell as Roma coach?

“I think it's been difficult for me from day one in the Roma dugout. I don't want the focus to be on the coach and his future because it's Roma who are playing tomorrow. There's been lots of talk about other things but the one thing that's in the interest of all Romanisti is that Roma reach the next round, regardless of the coach. I'm focused only on the team, not on me. I want the lads to produce a great performance and get Roma through to the next round. We'd all benefit from that. I'm not the one playing the match tomorrow. This is not Eusebio Di Francesco's match; it's Roma's match. I know that talk is normal in this job but I also know that we have a hugely important game to play tomorrow.”

Is it hard for you at the moment?

“The hardest moment is the one that's yet to come. We'd been on a good run of results and the derby knocked our morale. Now we must focus on this game. It's a one-off match and we need the performance of our lives. We need everyone to pull out all the stops. As a coach you need people to support you, not tolerate you. Tomorrow it's important we put out a team of players capable of performing at the highest level, like the ones we produced last season.”

How important were individual mistakes in the derby? Will you change the team because of them?

“It's wrong to talk about individuals. We got our approach wrong as a team on Saturday, starting with the coach. Now we must think about tomorrow's game and pick the right players. It's not a case of dropping anyone but deciding who is most suitable for the game from a physical, mental and tactical point of view. It's important that whoever plays is clear-headed and ready to produce a top performance. Those who didn't play so well must be keen to make up for it.”

If you were to see Paulo Sousa at the stadium tomorrow, would you consider it inappropriate, like when he made those comments a while ago?

“No, because making inappropriate comments is one thing and going to see a match is another. It's part of our job and it could happen to me in future. It depends how you go about your work. I don't see anything wrong with it.”