AS Roma vs Siena preview - Iachini puts the blinkers on

Siena travel to the capital on Sunday with their Serie A destiny in their own hands as they take on Roma.

The Robur know that five wins from their five remaining games will guarantee their place in Serie A next season while, realistically, 10 points should be enough to see them hold off the challenges of Palermo and Genoa.

But they are not concerning themselves with results elsewhere, nor the stature of their hosts, who are still vying for a place in Europe next season and will be equally keen to keep the points in the Eternal City.

"We have never looked at who we are playing against, we just give it our all in every game we play to achieve our ultimate goal, which is safety," said Siena coach Giuseppe Iachini.

Siena come into the game off the back of a surprise 1-0 home defeat to Chievo last weekend, a game they expected to win, and one which would have given them a four-point cushion over the relegation zone had they won it.

Instead, they are just a point ahead of both Palermo and Genoa.

"We have five really tough games to come but, against Roma, we are going to have a fire in our bellies after what happened last weekend," said defender Massimo Paci.

"We're going to go there to win back what we lost (against Chievo). I am fully optimistic about the end of the season and am 100% certain Siena will stay up."

They may come up against a side whose thoughts are already wandering towards the final of the Coppa Italia where a ticket for the Europa League will be contested with their city rivals Lazio.

"We want to qualify for Europe and our aim is to finish the season well and, of course, win the Coppa Italia," said goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg on his club's website.

Roma are still in the hunt for a Europa League berth via their league placing, however, and a win on Sunday could take them above Inter Milan into fifth, and keep Lazio behind them.