Sampdoria vs Hellas Verona preview - Mihajlovic ready for angry Verona

Posted Sunday, March 23, 2014 by PA

Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic thinks the best way to deal with an "angry" Hellas Verona on Sunday is for his own players to match that aggression.

Both sides are hurting after defeats last weekend - Verona lost 2-0 to Inter Milan while Samp were beaten 3-0 by Atalanta.

Mihajlovic's men will be looking to make up some of the distance to their eighth-placed opponents, who are six points and five spots better off in Serie A, as well as widen the gap over the relegation zone.

And the Serbian coach knows both teams have a point to prove at Stadio Luigi Ferraris this weekend.

"I expect Verona to be angry because, like us, they come into the match on the back of a defeat," Mihajlovic told a press conference.

"I'm sure we will meet a team that will cause us problems.

"We can get something if we can find that anger we had when I came here. We have to go back to being that hungry team which made me proud to be the coach.

"Our goal is safety: we have 11 points over the team third from bottom and are close to the finish line but we have not yet reached it."

Samp will be without Nenad Krsticic (hip) and Matias Rodriguez, but Mattia Lombardo has been included in the 23-man squad for the first time.

Verona are keen to end a run of three games without a win, with Andrea Mandorlini's men now seven points off the top five.

However, the coach refuses to throw in the towel on European football just yet.

"We still have 10 games left to improve our ranking and we will do the best we can, there are still 30 points available," he said.

"We were not as polished against Inter and wasted many chances. However, the team has worked really well this season and, if we can get a few more goals, we'll find out what we can achieve."