Read coach Paolo Vanoli’s and Marin Pongracic’s words on the eve of Crystal Palace v Fiorentina.

VANOLI: “They’re clearly a well-organized team that is very good at transitions. They’re also good at counter-attacks. They play in the Premier League, which is the most competitive league in the world. It’s also very different from Serie A from a financial point of view. My personal experience was at Chelsea and I can say that the gap is huge. But as I told the players this morning, this must be a source of pride for us.

“We must give it our all, bearing in mind that it’s a challenging environment, with a 25,000 capacity crowd, against a team with a strong home record. We must stay sharp as we will be playing a two-legged tie, not a one-off match. So we must remain focused throughout the whole game. It will also be a way to see to what extent we have grown. Moise [Kean] is still suffering from shin pain, so we’re considering whether to have him play against Lazio.”

You’ll be playing against Jean-Philippe Mateta. What type of game are you expecting?

PONGRACIC: “I know Mateta. I played against him once in a U21 game between Croatia and France. It was a couple of years ago, but he was already a very physical and fast player, he’s very tall too. I also saw a few goals he scored last year in the Premier League. He’s a very dangerous striker. We must always be careful with these players when defending. We must always defend as a team.”

Is it frustrating to have so many injured players ahead of this match?

VANOLI: “I would’ve loved to have the entire squad available for this match because that’s something that you really need for these games. However, I told my players that I don’t like the word crisis. That’s because I play with all my players and this must be an opportunity for players who don’t play as much, for our younger players as well if they get to play. This is the group spirit I want to maintain because the best results are achieved when the entire team is united. The last two months of the season are always the toughest, but we must remain focused. However, this is not a crisis; it’s all about giving it our all and trying to reach our objectives.”

Does the more positive situation in the league help you be more relaxed in these games?

PONGRACIC: “Our win last week was a relief for us all. It was a very important win for all of us. In other parts of the season, we really struggled a lot, but over the past couple of matches I’ve seen a completely different team. We fight until the end, we have highs and lows, but we never give up.”