Atalanta vs Catania preview - Montella looking for response

Catania coach Vincenzo Montella has demanded an immediate response from his players when they visit Atalanta in Serie A on Sunday.

Montella was left angry and disappointed with his side's 1-0 defeat to Cagliari - their second straight loss at home.

The outcome saw Catania drop to the bottom half of the standings.

"It's obvious that after our performance against Cagliari, we need to correct certain things," Montella said. "We lacked balance and we made mistakes against them.

"We will try to make sure we don't repeat those mistakes on Sunday."

Catania have won just once on the road this season and will be without injured midfielders Mariano Izco and Marco Biagianti this weekend.

Atalanta, meanwhile, go into the encounter in Bergamo inspired by their four-game unbeaten run which has seen them climb to 13th.

Last weekend's goalless result at Chievo was Atalanta's third consecutive draw and left the Bergamaschi two points adrift of Catania.

"We are giving a sense of consistency to our results and that is the most important thing," Atalanta coach Stefano Colantuono said.

"Emerging unbeaten from Verona is positive and we will now try to keep up our good run of form at home."

Atalanta remain unbeaten at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium this season and lie five points clear of the drop zone.

Few would have predicted the promoted outfit would remain clear of relegation at this stage of the campaign after being handed a six-point penalty at the start of the campaign for a match-fixing scandal.

The hosts will be without defender Stefano Lucchini, who serves a one-match ban.