Cagliari vs Palermo preview - Miccoli keen to maintain form

Posted Saturday, February 11, 2012 by PA

Palermo captain Fabrizio Miccoli hopes to continue his recent goalscoring form when his side visit Cagliari.

The 32-year-old forward has struck four times in his team's past two league games - a 4-4 draw at Inter Milan and a 2-1 triumph over Atalanta last weekend.

"I hope to keep up this form for as long as possible," said Miccoli, who has scored 10 goals in 18 league appearances so far.

"I'm in good shape and I'm able to train regularly, something which I had not been able to do for some time due to injuries."

Sunday's triumph at La Favorita extended Palermo's unbeaten run to four games and has lifted the Sicilians to eighth place.

Despite their good form of late, Palermo coach Bortolo Mutti does not want his players to get carried away just yet.

"We have to fly low and continue to work hard," he said.

"We still need to get nine points to achieve our minimum aim which is to defend our Serie A status."

Palermo travel to the Sant' Elia stadium looking for their first win on the road this season.

Mutti's side has mustered just four points of a possible 33 away from home.

Lack of goalscoring had been Palermo's main problem when playing away from La Favorita, however, the Sicilians showed a vast improvement in that respect when scoring four times at Inter.

Cagliari, meanwhile, remain unbeaten at home since December 20.

The Sardinian outfit followed their 4-2 triumph over Roma with a goalless result at Novara last time out.

Davide Ballardini's side has lost just one game this year and lie in 11th place.

"We are giving continuity to our results and that is the most important thing," Ballardini said.

"Now we face a difficult game against Palermo and we need to be ready."