Ranieri: “The boys deserved more”

Claudio Ranieri could not hide his disappointment on Wednesday evening as a positive performance went unrewarded. Speaking after his team’s 2-1 defeat to Roma, the coach said his players deserved at least a point from the match.

“I was very pleased with the team, for their performance throughout the match, although we could have been a bit more clinical with our final pass,” Ranieri commented.

“I expected better from us on the second goal. It was such a high ball. From the bench I was thinking it’d come down with snow on it,” he added.

Ranieri continued: “The changes they made altered the face of the game and [Edin] Dzeko scored two great goals.

“[Manolo] Gabbiadini’s goal was brilliant. We know that he has a wand of a left foot. He, Ramirez and Quagliarella are top players. I hope to have the captain back soon – we need players like him.

“We’ve got three tough and important games coming up, against Bologna, Lecce and SPAL. We need to strike while the iron’s hot, because we’re in good shape and we need to pick up points.”