Doria press on with Sassuolo prep; Giampaolo conference on Friday

Sampdoria finally had a full-strength squad again after the international break and stepped up their preparations this afternoon ahead of Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off against Sassuolo.

Luis Muriel made it back in time for today’s session, which focused mainly on tactical drills at the Centro Sportivo Mugnaini. All three senior technical directors – Daniele Prade, Carlo Osti and Riccardo Pecini – came up to the training ground to oversee the workout.

Edgar Barreto and Patrik Schick followed their personalised training programmes, while Jacopo Sala concentrated on his technique individually. Elsewhere in the treatment room, Emiliano Viviano had physio and area-specific strengthening, and Carlos Carbonero and Daniel Pavlovic continued to work their way back to full fitness.

The squad will train behind closed doors tomorrow morning before Marco Giampaolo holds his pre-match news conference at 14:00 CET. You can follow it live on Twitter or watch the highlights from Samp TV later in the day.