Cesare Prandelli has Adrian Mutu back as Fiorentina prepare to fight in Bologna. “We’ll prove our critics wrong.”
Mutu has been out since the 2-1 home loss to Lecce after falling awkwardly on to his elbow, but is in the squad for the Dall’Ara game this afternoon.
The Viola are stuttering recently with a scraped 2-1 win over Napoli midweek ending the run of three consecutive defeats.
“The team plays better when it is relaxed, so when the pressure is on we tend to struggle more,” confessed the Coach.
“If criticism is constructive, then we will evaluate it and give it serious consideration. I would like to tell these people that you judge a side’s season at the end and not half-way through.
“We have gone through similar periods in the past, but at the end of the day the results backed us up. Our objective is to reach the final game and prove our critics wrong.”
The Tuscans were up in arms over refereeing errors in recent weeks and Prandelli fears the media attention may have been counter-productive.
“Despite everything that has happened, we reacted well with an excellent attitude. We have to focus on ourselves and on Bologna, who are an organised side.
“We will be there with the strong desire to get three points. Sinisa Mihajlovic has given them confidence and new ideas. He came in with the right approach.”
Bologna will field Daniel Pablo Osvaldo, who only moved from Fiorentina last week in bitter circumstances.
“He will celebrate if he scores and I expect he probably will hit the back of the net, but we’ll do it twice,” smiled Prandelli.
Gianluca Comotto is in doubt after a bout of flu, though Dario Dainelli, Juan Manuel Vargas, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Manuel Pasqual have recovered from the same illness.
Mutu is back in action, but Stevan Jovetic has not made the trip and neither has Per Kroldrup or Sergio Almiron.
There are reports Fiorentina have lined up Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, although the move will only be completed in June.
“Of course talented players are welcome here, especially if they truly believe in the Fiorentina project,” concluded the tactician.
Fiorentina squad: Avramov, Bonazzoli, Comotto, Dainelli, Donadel, Frey, Gamberini, Gilardino, Gobbi, Kuzmanovic, Felipe Melo, Montolivo, Mutu, Pasqual, Santana, Semioli, Vargas, Tagilani, Seculin, Gulan, Maritato
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