Roma face old boy with confidence renewed

AS Roma hope the 3-1 victory against Chelsea FC in the UEFA Champions League will be a turning point for their season ahead of Saturday's visit to fellow Serie A strugglers Bologna FC, who are now coached by former Giallorossi player Siniša Mihajlović.

Right path
Mirko Vučinić, scorer of two spectacular goals in the midweek win at the Stadio Olimpico, is sure that Roma are finally on the right path after their difficult start to the campaign. "After the game against Chelsea we realised that we are still a great side," the Montenegro striker said. "Now we have to prove it also in the domestic league and we are travelling to Bologna only for the three points."

Debut as coach
Roma's game this weekend game sets up a meeting with Mihajlović, who will be making his debut as Bologna coach. The Rossoblù parted company with previous coach Daniele Arrigoni on Monday after a 5-1 defeat at Cagliari Calcio. That left the promoted side second from bottom in Serie A. However, Roma, who have lost six of their nine games, are only one point ahead of them. By contrast, last season Luciano Spalletti's side only lost four games in the whole campaign, when they finished second behind FC Internazionale Milano.

'Difficult game'
"Roma are obviously destined to play a key role in my life," said 39-year-old former Serbian international Mihajlović, who played for the Giallorossi between 1992 and 1994 before wearing the shirts of UC Sampdoria, S.S. Lazio and Inter. "I started my playing career in Italy with Roma and now I am making my debut as coach against them. It will be a difficult game as they have several great players and a very good coach. However, they are not playing very well at the moment and we have to take advantage of this to try to beat them. A victory against a big team like Roma would be the right remedy for the players' lack of confidence.

'Fighting spirit'
"I think our problem is mostly psychological," Mihajlović added. "I will speak one-to-one with every single player because they need to rebuild their self-belief. The technical level of the team is good but now we are playing with fear. I want to see commitment and fighting spirit on the pitch instead. Each player must give everything in every match as I did for all 20 years of my career."