Fonseca: Players know what I demand of them

A goal down at the break against Serie A's bottom side SPAL, the Giallorossi responded decisively in the second half - as Lorenzo Pellegrini, Diego Perotti and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all scored to clinch an eventual 3-1 win.

This was very much a Jekyll and Hyde performance from Roma. What changed between the first and second periods?

“We played well in the first half. We missed lots of chances but played with intensity and speed. The half-time score-line did not reflect the game. The team created more chances in the second half and we got goals.”

Did you see the attitude you asked for ahead of the contest?

“Today it was important to win. The attitude of all the boys was spot on – that’s the team spirit that we always need to demonstrate.”

What stage are we at as regards your work with the team, to achieve your style of play?

“The players know that, for me, attitude is the most important thing. If you play for Roma, you need to be brave and ambitious. I push my team, because they always need to play to win.”

When you have Justin Kluivert and Javier Pastore back, as well as the other injured players who play behind Edin Dzeko, what will happen?

“It’ll be a positive thing to have all my players available. They will need to fight for opportunities to play – I think it’s very good news to have them all available. We’ll see when they’re back, but they should be with us soon.”

Alessandro Florenzi played very well. We saw a real team celebration with him when Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored.

“He played very well. As I’ve always said, he’s a great professional and I’ve got no issues with him. Sometimes I have various options available to me. If there were problems between us, he wouldn’t have played, but he did. There’s no problem with him.”