Udinese vs Roma preview - Garcia demands silverware

Rudi Garcia will not allow Roma to reach the end of 2015 without winning a trophy.

The French coach worked wonders in his first year in the Giallorossi dugout, running eventual Serie A champions Juventus incredibly close while guiding the capital club into the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Six months later and Roma are chasing Juve even harder for dominance of the league and, while an overdue return to the Champions League ended in disappointment, winning the Europa League remains an achievable target.

The new year begins with a trip to mid-table Udinese, where Garcia is determined to close the three-point gap on Juve before the champions host Inter Milan later on Tuesday.

He told a pre-match press conference: "The difference between this year and last is that we have to win something: we'll battle to the wire to win them all.

"We must go all out to earn three points tomorrow. If we manage that then we'll see what the others do.

"Tomorrow's all that matters, I'm not thinking about the next games.

"The energy I've seen from my players in training shows that the winter break did us good mentally."

Roma travel to the north east without influential forward Gervinho and veteran midfielder Seydou Keita, who have both travelled to the African Cup of Nations, while Salih Ucan, Federico Balzaretti, Leandro Castan and Antonio Sanabria are all out injured.

Luis Muriel, Emmanuel Badu and Alexis Zapata are all unavailable for hosts Udinese, whose Roman boss Andrea Stramaccioni has pledged to stop the opposition in their tracks.

The former Giallorossi youth coach told Corriere dello Sport: "This will be a difficult match for us, but we know exactly where Roma's strengths lie.

"They always like to play their matches along the rails that suit them best.

"So we must try to be aggressive and not give anything away to them, knowing that they are one of the best sides in Italy but that we are equipped to make life difficult for them."