Bologna vs Lazio preview - Kone wants early Christmas present

Bologna midfielder Panagiotis Kone is hoping victory over Lazio will provide the struggling Rossoblu with a pre-Christmas boost on Monday night.

The visitors from Rome may be chasing a Champions League place but Bologna's ambitions are currently limited to pulling away from 16th place and out of sight of the Serie A relegation zone.

Two wins from three league games have stabilised a very poor start to the season for Stefano Pioli's men, but with a daunting trip to Napoli in the Coppa Italia just around the corner, Kone is urging his team-mates to earn a morale-boosting win.

The Greece international told bolognafc.it: "We have proved we don't deserve to be where we are in the league and getting something from Lazio is extremely important if we are to stay on the right path.

"We want to be Bologna side that we were against Atalanta (in a 2-1 win). We are searching for continuity in our results.

"Between now and Christmas we have four games in 16 days and we will be working very hard to finish this half of the season in the best possible way."

The Rossoblu are without suspended striker Manolo Gabbiadini in their bid to register back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Roberto Acquafresca, Cesare Natali and Gianluca Curci are all injured but Archimede Morleo returns to contention after serving a ban.

Lazio defender Stefan Radu was a surprise goalscorer in a 4-1 Europa League victory at Maribor this week, but the Romanian wants the Biancocelesti to secure their role in Europe's premier tournament for next season.

He told La Repubblica: "I've waited five years to score a goal for Lazio.

"We have to give our all to win and tighten our grip on a Champions League place. Then there's Inter and Siena (in the Coppa Italia) - we want to do well in all three competitions."

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