Ranieri: “I’ll rotate against Verona to keep the team fresh”

Claudio Ranieri has confirmed that he will make some changes to his Sampdoria side when they take on Hellas Verona at the Stadio Bentegodi on Wednesday evening.

“The good thing about this period is that we have another game straight away,” said Ranieri. “I’ll make some changes because we’re playing every there days and it’s important to keep the squad fresh – that’s the most important thing for me. We’re in good shape from a fitness perspective and we’ve shown that on the pitch, even if we’ve not been getting results. Mentally, we’ll need to play at 1000mph. Verona are another side in very good form, after Napoli.”

The Doria boss had plenty of praise for Wednesday’s opponents and their coach, Ivan Juric.

“Juric and his side have made a very good start in the league,” said Ranieri. “Last year they were a revelation and so far this season they’ve continued to do good things tactically. They’re aggressive and they don’t let you have any respite. They man-mark all over the field, much like Atalanta do. We know their strengths and we know that to get a result we’ll need to play to the best of our potential.”