Sampdoria vs Napoli preview - Samp keen to keep boss Mihajlovic

Posted Saturday, May 10, 2014 by PA

Sampdoria captain Angelo Palombo hopes Sinisa Mihajlovic will stay on as coach of the club.

The Genoa outfit head into Sunday's game against Napoli with the Serbian tactician having yet to sign a contract extension.

Mihajlovic replaced sacked Delio Rossi at the helm of Sampdoria back in November and his current deal expires this summer.

"We hope that Mihajlovic can remain with us and that he can reach an agreement with the club," Palombo said. "It wasn't easy to defend our Serie A status and to do so with nine games remaining came as a surprise to all of us.

"This just goes to show how well we have done since Mihajlovic arrived.

"We hope that with Mihajlovic we can open a successful cycle. It would be fantastic to win something with him."

Palombo, whose side stand 12th in the standings, is hopeful his team can sign off with a victory in their last game at the Luigi Ferraris stadium this season.

"We will do our best to beat Napoli," Palombo said. "We are really motivated to do well in front of our home fans and it would be a great satisfaction to beat a team like Napoli."

Napoli make the journey to Genoa having clinched the third and final Champions League qualifying spot this week.

They followed their Coppa Italia final victory over Fiorentina with a 3-0 triumph over Cagliari on Tuesday.

The outcome lifted Rafael Benitez's side 11 points clear of nearest rivals Fiorentina with two games remaining.

It allowed the Naples outfit to establish a new club record of 91 goals in a Serie A season.

"We are on the right path," head coach Benitez said. "We wanted to win the Coppa and we followed that achievement with a good performance against Cagliari.

"There are still two games left to play and we want to finish the season in style."

Napoli's top scorer Gonzalo Higuain, who was rested on Tuesday, is set to return to the starting XI against Sampdoria while defender Miguel Angel Britos and midfielder Blerim Dzemaili are both suspended.