Stefano Pioli discussed the 2-1 Serie A defeat to Roma on Sunday afternoon in his post-match press conference. Here’s what he had to say.

“When you play like that and create so much against a team that had only conceded one goal this season and had the best defence in Europe, you shouldn’t lose the match.

“I said to the players that Roma had won almost all their games by the odd goal apart from the one against Verona because they’re clinical and keep themselves in the contest, so we needed to be like them. We conceded two goals where, unfortunately, that metre or two between us and our opponents cost us.

“We did create chances and kept battling, so we did everything we had to do but it’s not about luck. We need to do more and be more focused. We’re not in a good league position and we lost at home again, but it’s not about luck or misfortune.

“What comes to mind is that the league table suggests we’re very far away from Roma, but as I said to the players beforehand, I don’t think we are that far away. It comes down to fine margins and those margins have seen us drop a lot of points. I think we deserved to lose to Napoli because they were the better side, but in our other games, it’s come down to fine margins rather than the performances themselves.

“The results are what they are and we need to do more. I can’t fault the players for the performance today.”