Ranieri demands Samp keep pushing till the end after Roma win

Claudio Ranieri praised his team’s mentality after a convincing 2-0 win over Roma.

“What I liked most today was our focus and intensity,” the boss began. “We played very well, with great desire. We’re two points better off than we were at this stage in the first half of the season but we mustn’t ease up now. We must keep pushing and not just settle for staying up. We might win or lose but we must keep trying to improve. As I keep saying: 52 points is our target.

“Apart from the Sassuolo game, we’re on a good run at the moment. We’re playing well, fighting, running and not easing up – that’s what I like to see. It was a great win today.

“[Adrien] Silva is a fantastic player who always calls for the ball and looks to play it forward. I have great options in midfield with him, [Albin] Ekdal and [Morten] Thorsby. With his goal, we now have 16 different scorers this season – writing a little piece of Sampdoria history.

“I told the lads to keep the ball moving and make Roma run around because they’d had a difficult few days and we did that well.

“Let’s enjoy this now. Next season is going to be a real battle.”