Cesena vs Sampdoria preview - Mihajlovic urges players to kick on

Posted Saturday, November 22, 2014 by PA

Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic wants his players to pick up where they left off when they travel to Cesena on Sunday for their first game following the international break.

The Genoa outfit have won five and lost just one of their 11 Serie A games so far, and held AC Milan to a 2-2 draw last time out to move up to fourth in the standings.

Mihajlovic is looking for another solid performance this weekend, and has urged his players not to let him down.

"We have worked intensely during the break and now I am curious to see how my players respond," Mihajlovic said to Gazzetta dello Sport. "Our aim this season is to remain in the top half of the standings and we are there right now.

"We have to remain in the same path and, if we do, I'm sure we can do very well this campaign.

"I'm confident that we will continue to play well."

Samp have shown great balance at both ends of the pitch so far, scoring 14 times and conceding just eight.

Cesena have not emerged triumphant since beating Parma 1-0 on the opening day of the campaign.

The Emilia-Romagna side have collected four points since then - all from draws.

A 2-1 defeat at Chievo in their last game saw them drop to 19th in the table - three points adrift of Atalanta, who hold the last position of safety.

"We will battle with six or seven teams to avoid the drop," Cesena coach Pierpaolo Bisoli said. "We have to believe in ourselves and try to get as many points as possible from now until December in order to remain in the race to defend our Serie A status."

Samp are without captain Angelo Palombo, who serves a one-match ban this weekend, while Sergio Romero will play in goal for the visitors with Emiliano Viviano still sidelined through injury.b