Roma coach Paulo Fonseca confirms Edin Dzeko will be “ready to play” against Inter as he speaks of the “honour” to fill a role first offered to Antonio Conte.
The reports on Thursday morning claimed that Dzeko would miss the big game through illness, but Fonseca confirmed that the Bosnia international turned up to training as normal.
“Dzeko has trained with us and is ready to play, Fonseca told the reporters at a press conference. “I need to say that I won’t discuss the team today, as I will pick my line-up tomorrow.
“Conte is a great coach, very good. Inter are in a great moment, they’ve got a very characteristic, very elaborate way of playing. They are in a good moment and it will be a very difficult game.
“Inter are very strong in every moment of the game. They start with a three-man construction at the back, but they have a very interesting dynamic. We have played a lot against a back-three, it’s not a new thing for us.”
About the reports claiming that Roma had spoken to Conte and that the former Juventus coach was their first choice before he was appointed at San Siro, Fonseca said he felt it was “an honour.”
“I don’t talk about the past,” he said. “For me, it’s an honour if they first spoke to Conte and today, I’m here.
“We have to be courageous. We have prepared for this match with great attention to the two Inter strikers, who are very strong. But, if we can be rigid at the back and show courage, we have prepared some situations that may create problems for Inter.”
He also gave an update on the situation regarding the knocks on Diego Perotti, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Justin Kluivert, and added that Davide Santon is in contention to play his third game in a week.
“Both of them [Perotti and Mkhitaryan] are in good condition. They are ready to play tomorrow. Kluivert has been through some exams, but they are negative. He is annoyed that about not being able to play.
“Santon is doing very well. He has performed well during two matches, but we also have [Leonardo] Spinazzola and [Alessandro] Florenzi in that role. I will choose one of them.”
With Inter-Roma on Friday and Lazio-Juventus on Saturday, the two teams from Rome have the possibility to reduce the gap up to the top-two.
Roma are currently nine points behind Inter, whilst Lazio are third, with a seven-point gap up to the league leaders.
“I only see the chance to play against a very strong team. The most important thing is our game against Inter. I don’t care about what happens in the other game.”
Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £11.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://subscribe.premiersports.tv/
