Kosta Runjaic took questions from the gathered media on Friday, ahead of Udinese's match against Pisa on Saturday afternoon. Here's what he had to say:
Zaniolo
“He asked to come off against Torino because of a niggle he had in his knee. We took him off as a precaution but he's trained with the team and if everything goes well he should be available.”
Recovery after Torino
“It was an intense match that took a lot out of the players and we can see the signs of that, but it's always better to recover after a win. For tomorrow everyone will be mentally and physically ready. That's essential because we're going to need the same focus and desire we showed against Torino.”
Atta
“[Arthur] Atta is available again. We've missed him and he showed his quality when he came on against Torino. We don't want to run any risks. It's perhaps a bit early to start with him, although he would be up for it. He can't wait to play but we must make sure he doesn't get injured again between now and the end of the season. I'm not going to tell you which formation we'll play. Atta can play in several positions. He'll be on the pitch at some point tomorrow, whether it's from the start of from the bench.”
Arizala
“[Juan] Arizala is very young. He's only just got here and he's come from a different league so he'll need time to adapt to Serie A but I can't tell you how long it will take. He's another player like [Idrissa] Gueye and [Lennon] Miller – young and very talented. There's every chance of him establishing himself here but we don't have a set schedule. We mustn't put pressure on him. He'll be able to settle in between now and the end of the season. We'll work with him and evaluate him better over the coming months. He might get chances to play this season already. We bought him because we believe in his quality and his potential.”
Kristensen
“[Thomas] Kristensen did well against Torino in a slightly different position to usual. He helped [Alessandro] Zanoli on the wing, allowing him to get forward. We'll see how to use him against Pisa. We have some ideas and we'll see which one we decide to go with.”
First half of the season and objectives
“It was important for us to reach the same points total as we had at this stage last season, although I think we could have had a few more. Looking at Udinese's recent seasons, 25 is a good return. Now we want to build on that and do better in the second half of the season. The aim is to get more points than last term, to be consistent and to play even better football, besides finishing in the top half, which doesn't happen often at Udinese.
For now we're concentrating on tomorrow's game – that's where we need to start building. We need a solid performance and a three points, then we can look forward. The idea is to obtain at least 50 points. That's a realistic and achievable objective but we must improve a lot and work hard every day.”