Palermo vs Genoa preview - Miccoli issues rallying call

Palermo captain Fabrizio Miccoli is urging his team-mates to believe in their own salvation as the Sicilians tackle Genoa in a relegation six-pointer.

The Rosanero remain rooted to the bottom of the Serie A table and six points from safety having failed to win in 11 attempts, but 17th-placed Genoa are not out of trouble yet despite taking eight points from their last four games.

While Miccoli grudgingly accepts that Palermo's nine-year stay in the top flight could soon be over, the striker is refusing to let his colleagues admit defeat until survival is mathematically impossible.

He told La Repubblica: "Do we believe we can stay up? Everyone has to believe it, not just the captain.

"In all my time as a player I have never seen anything like this season, with the team losing at least 12 points in the last minutes of games for whatever reason, like has happened with us.

"But to say that we're already down, I don't think so; anything can happen and we have to believe in ourselves.

"Whatever happens we will pull together and move forward in one way or another, but for now we are only thinking about survival and we have to fight for it."

Palermo will have to face Genoa without striker Abel Hernandez, who has missed most of the season with a serious leg injury, but the Uruguayan has finally resumed light training and could return to action within a month.

"The club has taken responsibility for what has happened, and so must the players," Miccoli added. "Sometimes we've played well, sometimes not so well, but it's ridiculous to start blaming people.

"We just need to do everything we can to ensure that we are not condemned by the numbers."

Genoa are just one place above the relegation zone but have a four-point cushion on Siena, with Bosko Jankovic, Antonio Floro Flores, Mattia Cassani and Matuzalem unlikely to feature due to injury.

The Rossoblu's last visit to the Renzo Barbera proved to be one of the most exciting games of last season as seven different players scored in an eventual 5-3 home win.