Pescara vs Torino preview - Balzano ready for huge clash

Posted Sunday, January 20, 2013 by PA

Pescara defender Antonio Balzano feels their Serie A meeting with Torino could be decisive in the promoted side's battle against the drop.

Head coach Cristiano Bergodi has given the Delfini a fighting chance of booking a second season in the top flight with a handful of creditable victories since he replaced Giovanni Stroppa.

A disappointing 2-0 defeat at Inter Milan left Pescara looking over their shoulder once again, but Balzano believes the next three games against fellow bottom-half sides Torino, Sampdoria and Bologna are winnable.

Speaking before Il Toro arrived on the east coast, he told the Corriere dello Sport: "It's a huge game. This will be a decisive month and we have to pick up as many points as possible.

"It's also essential that we don't lose. The season still has a long way to go but the next few games could decide a lot.

"I don't know what happened against Inter, we are working hard so it doesn't happen again. It was a mess of a match, nothing more, and we will make mistakes.

"We can't repeat that performance, though, and it served as an important lesson.

"Torino play good football and they're crafty, a bit like Fiorentina. We want to move closer to them in the table.

"I've said it before but I'll say it again, the important thing is being a united team."

Defender Uros Cosic is Pescara's only real injury concern, while Torino expect to be without injured trio Abour Diop, Mario Santana and Angelo Ogbonna at the Stadio Adriatico.

The latter has revealed he is making good progress in his recovery from a hernia operation but ex-Manchester City striker Rolando Bianchi serves a one-match ban.

Torino president Urbano Cairo cooled speculation the club are chasing Sampdoria midfielder Enzo Maresca.

"That's come from a source that we don't control and I don't know how it got out, he said. "Maresca has played for Malaga and Sampdoria so I don't think it's possible."

Torino only finished second to Pescara in Serie B on goal difference last season, with the two sides leading the division with 83 points apiece.

The points from a 2-2 draw were shared the last time this fixture took place in the top flight back in September 1992.