Genoa vs Sampdoria preview - Mihajlovic: Samp can do better

Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic is thrilled with his team's strong start to the season but believes the Blucerchiati can play even better.

Heading into Sunday's Lantern derby at Genoa, unbeaten Samp have won two of their opening four games.

Wednesday's 2-1 triumph over Chievo was their first at home and lifted the club to fourth in the Serie A standings.

"It was important to give continuity to our results," Mihajlovic said. "We played well against Chievo and we deserved the win but there is still room for improvement.

"Now we head into the derby determined to extend our positive run.

"It's an important game for us and for our fans. We will go all out for a win even though we cannot forget that this game is worth three points just as all the other games."

Genoa coach Giampiero Gasperini would rather have faced Samp later in the competition.

The Grifoni are unbeaten in the last three games and go into the encounter at the Luigi Ferraris stadium three points adrift of Samp after Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Hellas Verona.

"I would have preferred to have played the derby later in the season," Gasperini said. "But we have to accept the calendar and try to arrive to this game in the best possible condition.

"It's a very important match and the only thing that matters is to win it."

Last year, when Genoa were the visitors, they surprised Samp 3-0.

However, they have failed to beat them when hosting their rivals the past two seasons.

Gasperini will have all of his players available, with the exception of injured midfielder Ioannis Fetfatzidis.

Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla will lead Genoa's attack.