Giampaolo: “Every game is a test – let’s raise our game mentally”

Marco Giampaolo warned his side against overconfidence and called for them to “take a step forward mentally” as he spoke to reporters ahead of Samp’s trip to Udinese on Saturday.

“You prepare for games in two ways: technically and mentally,” said the Doria coach on Friday afternoon. “This week I’ve worked a lot more on the psychological side of things for the players. I want to move on from this idea that when you have a great performance you then come unstuck when you then go and play a less exciting match and end up back at square one. It’s going to be a very tough game as it’s do or die for them. They will compete very fiercely.”

Giampaolo stressed that it was up to his team to prove that they can build on the win over AC Milan.

“We need to pass this test – it’s not just about the result, but the type of performance we produce,” he said. “The tests never finish for us. I don’t want to see even a hint of cockiness from anyone because we don’t let up until 20 May. We want to be ambitious, but not overconfident.”