Lazio vs Atalanta preview - Lazio look to build on Parma win

Stefano Pioli hopes last weekend's "determined" victory over his hometown club Parma helps dispel the clouds of pessimism that have suddenly descended at Lazio.

The Biancocelesti were among the early pacesetters in Serie A, with a run of four straight wins propelling Pioli's men into Champions League contention by mid-October.

A three-game winless streak took the shine off that bright start but Lazio would return to winning ways at Parma and now occupy sixth place ahead of Saturday night's visit of Atalanta to Rome.

Following the 2-1 triumph in Emilia-Romagna, the Lazio coach told La Repubblica Sport: "Until about a month ago everybody was talking about a spectacular Lazio side that was set to finish third.

"Then all it took were two or three performances to completely change their opinions.

"We pulled off a performance against a tricky Parma side that put us in real difficulty. We were determined, we believed, and we were in the game right to the end, creating several scoring chances.

"I got the answers I was looking for from my players from the point of view of determination and character. We had not won for a while and I witnessed a very strong reaction to that."

Pioli must deal with a personnel crisis while he settles on a team to face Atalanta, with Lucas Biglia, Stefan Radu and Edson Braafheid all joining a growing list of injury absentees this week.

Already missing were Santiago Gentiletti, Michael Ciani, Luis Cavanda and influential Italy midfielder Antonio Candreva, leaving Pioli with a real quandary as he targets back-to-back victories.

Winning two on the spin is also an option for 14th-placed Atalanta, who snapped a six-game winless streak with victory over Cesena last time out.

Nerazzurri coach Stefano Colantuono said: "We have certainly taken a big step forward.

"The result gives us a great morale boost and we can deal with our league games more calmly because our position in the table looks much better."

Cristian Raimondi, Marcelo Estigarribia, Davide Zappacosta and Valerio Rosseti are injured and will not feature at the Stadio Olimpico.