Jaka Bijol has reaffirmed Udinese's desire to return to winning ways after a positive display against Juventus saw them finish on the wrong end of a defeat.
“It's a tricky period. Winning is important to us and it's been too long since our last win,” the defender said on Monday's Udinese Tonight show. “We work hard every day to win games. We have another chance to do that against Bologna on Sunday and we'll do everything possible to get the points.
“There's no lack of motivation – speaking for myself at least. I'm focused on winning. It's hard to win against Juventus. We played well and maintaining that tempo against them for 90 minutes is not easy.
“We've watched that goal back lots of times. We all needed to do better and be more reactive in those situations. It's a shame but we'll learn from these things and move on.
“Winning six games in a row earlier in the season gave us confidence but our focus has always been high in every game. Now our sole focus is next Sunday.”
The Slovene then looked back at the goals he has scored since joining the club last summer.
“My goal against Inter was probably the best. It was a special feeling to score in front of our fans at our home stadium. I scored a nice goal against Verona too but the one against Inter was special.
“It wasn't difficult to settle in here because lots of players like [Sandi] Lovric, [Ilija] Nestorovski and [Lazar] Samardzic helped me a lot. Being close to my family, who are only a couple of hours away, is important to me too.”
Bijol also discussed his transformation from midfielder to defender.
“It was in Moscow that I played in defence for the first time. Before then I'd always played in midfield. It was an idea my coach had after noticing my defensive attributes.
“I played with Becao in my first year in Moscow too. When I met him again here in Udine, he had improved a lot physically and technically. He's a very, very good player.
“Serie A is one of the toughest leagues in the world. There's a big difference in quality compared to the Russian league I played in. The level is really high in Italy.”
Bijol ended with a message for the fans: “We hope to see you at the stadium. It's a very important match for us – let's win it together!”