Speaking at the press conference ahead of his team's clash with Sampdoria on Monday, Andrea Sottil was understandably disappointed with the injury suffered by Kingsley Ehizibue.
"This year we've had a lot of bad luck, unfortunately," the coach said. "We started with [Adam] Masina, then [Gerard] Deulofeu and [Enzo] Ebosse. Now it's Kingsley."
"This year we've had a lot of bad luck, unfortunately," the coach said. "We started with [Adam] Masina, then [Gerard] Deulofeu and [Enzo] Ebosse. Now it's Kingsley."
"I really feel sorry for everyone, especially for Kingsley, because he was showing excellent development, reaching a strong level of performance. I also throw in Isaac [Success]' injury. Beto has recovered, but it's clear that having them all in the squad and available to us would have given us more options and it would have been nice for the team to play this final part of the season all together."
He added: "In any case, we have to stay on the ball – those who are left are all strong players and are eager to get into the team. I demand the maximum from them. I am calm and measured, because I know that these guys will give me everything."
On Festy Ebosele, Sottil commented: "He is an option. As always, I will make my assessments to put the best team on the field. He has grown a lot – he's a player who gives us directness. He's training well, in a serious manner. He's the future of this team. If I have to pick him from the start I'm sure he'll play his game."
He continued: "We had two days of recovery [after the match against Napoli], because it was a physically and mentally demanding match. The active work was especially for those who played fewer minutes. Today was a good final training session. I'm convinced that the players who haven't had many opportunities until now will be able to be decisive in this final part of the season."
Commenting on Udinese's opponent on Monday, the coach said: "Sampdoria will come here and will rightly play their game. They are clearly in a very poor situation, but they have a knowledgeable coach, who is a great motivator.
"It'd be a big mistake to think everything will be easy tomorrow. We have an duty to ourselves and I expect a match like the one we saw against Napoli, in terms of approach and intensity.
"We have to be more consistent in our mentality. Against the big teams we have been very sharp at home and we have never lost. We have 15 points to be grabbed and our goal is to be consistent. This is the goal I gave the boys. This is for the end of the league season and for future growth. A winner behaves like a winner, that is to be performing in every minute of every game."