Lecce vs Cagliari preview - Obodo looking for home comforts

Lecce midfielder Christian Obodo has called on his team-mates to drastically improve their home form if they want to avoid relegation from Serie A this season.

The Salentini, who host Cagliari on Sunday, have failed to win in front of their own fans since a 2-1 triumph over Napoli on May 8.

Four defeats at the Stadio Via Del Mare have followed, including a 2-0 loss to Crotone in the Coppa Italia, and Obodo accepts it cannot continue.

"The time has come to grant our fans some joy," he said. "We need to start winning some home games because it is key to our hopes of retaining our Serie A status.

"We haven't shown our true potential at home and we hope, with the help of our fans, we can do well on Sunday."

Lecce lost their first two home games in Serie A this season - 2-0 against Udinese and 2-1 against Atalanta.

"We must show more focus and make a vast improvement in every department in order to start getting positive results at home," Obodo said.

"We were careless against Udinese and made too many mistakes against Atalanta."

Eusebio Di Francesco's men suffered a further blow last weekend as they lost 3-0 at Siena - their third defeat of the campaign.

To complicate matters, they will be without defender Andrea Esposito and midfielder Carlos Grossmuller this weekend through suspension.

Cagliari visit Lecce also hoping to get back to winning ways.

The Sardinians held Udinese to a goalless draw last time out having previously lost 3-2 at Palermo.

"Although we didn't score against Udinese, we made good moves up front," coach Massimo Ficcadenti said. "We did a good job by not giving much away to Udinese.

"We must build on this performance and bring home three points from Lecce on Sunday."

The Sardinians will be without injured striker Moestafa el Kabir for the trip to Lecce.