D’Aversa: “A deserved result to set up a restful Christmas”

Having asked his Sampdoria side to get back on track after conceding an 87^th-minute equaliser against Venezia, Roberto D’Aversa watched on as his players picked up a golden point that can be placed straight under the Christmas tree.

“The draw will allow us to have a lovely Christmas. The point is dedicated to the fans, to president [Massimo] Ferrero and his family. I think we played better in the first half than in the second, looking to build the play from the back from the start. We must also take into consideration how good our opponents were and they it difficult for us.

“If [Antonio] Candreva had scored, maybe we’d be here speaking about a different result. I must congratulate the players on getting back into it. I think 1-1 is a fair result overall. The subs also did well to make an immediate impact. It was interesting how our oldest player, [Fabio] Quagliarella, and a debutant, Yepes Laut, both came on.”

In terms of the cohesion within the squad, the boss added, “We have players here with real quality and real men who will always keep impressing me. Despite what’s going on at the moment, we have everything we need from the club.

“I’ve never come up with excuses for the team, but for most of the season we’ve not had players like [Manolo] Gabbiadini, [Ernesto] Torregrossa and [Mikkel] Damsgaard. We lost [Morten] Thorsby this morning and [Albin] Ekdal pulled up after five minutes. [Adrien] Silva could’ve only played at 50%, so that’s where we are. We have a united squad that faces up to difficulties.

“We certainly could’ve done better in the first half of the season, but the lads have been doing well ever since the game in Salerno.”