Atalanta vs Cagliari preview - Cagliari keen to enjoy travels

Cagliari defender Nicola Murru has urged his side to get the second half of the season off to a positive start with a win at Atalanta on Sunday.

The Sardinian outfit are still searching for their first away victory of the season despite having put in some battling displays.

Cagliari have lost just twice in front of their home crowd, but are desperate to pick up more points on the road - starting in Bergamo this weekend.

"The second half of the season gets under way now and, as we have been repeating, our key matches from now on will all be away from home," Murru said.

"We absolutely must change our path and look to get as many points as possible in all the away matches from here on in."

Cagliari fell 4-1 against Serie A leaders Juventus last weekend and, having claimed just three points - all from draws - in their last four games, they lie 14th in the standings, five points clear of the drop zone.

Turning his thoughts to Sunday, Murru expects a test at the Atleti Azzurri d'Italia stadium.

"It will be tough to play there and beat them because Atalanta have played well at home," he said.

"But we will look to play our game and aim to pick up the best result available. We must start to win on our travels."

Atalanta halted a six-match winless run with a 2-1 triumph over Catania last weekend to climb to 13th place, level on 21 points with Sunday's rivals.

The Bergamaschi go into the encounter on the back of Wednesday's 3-1 loss at Napoli that saw them crash out of the Coppa Italia.

Atalanta will be bolstered by the return of midfielder Cristian Raimondi from suspension.

Cagliari are without injured striker Nene and to complicate matters for coach Diego Lopez, Chile forward Mauricio Pinilla must serve a one-match ban.