Hellas Verona vs Fiorentina preview - Montella sees a brighter future

Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella is confident his team can turn a corner and start climbing the Serie A table.

Defeats to Sampdoria and Napoli prior to the international break saw the Florence side slide into the bottom half, below Sunday's opponents Hellas Verona.

It is a mildly troubling position for Montella and the club, after fourth-placed finishes in each of the last two seasons.

But time is on their side, with the campaign still salvageable despite a modest haul of 13 points from the opening 11 games.

He said in a press conference on Saturday, according to Corriere della Sera: "I see great motivation, great belief, optimism and determination. These things make me particularly calm with a view to tomorrow's match.

"There is a great collective desire to recover from this difficult spell. We're excited."

Verona have gone five games without a Serie A win, with their bright start to the season having been undone by that sticky run. The last outing was one from which they could take positive thoughts, though, as a late Nico Lopez leveller secured a 2-2 draw against Inter Milan at the San Siro.

Looking ahead to tackling Fiorentina at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, Lopez said on his team's website: "I certainly see a very good match ahead.

"They play an attacking game, we're at home and we need points. We hope to get the victory that we've been waiting for. We need points, we have to find a victory. We are working well to prepare as well as we can and I believe we can win it."