22 September 2015
As a tricky striker in his day, Roberto Stellone has good memories of landmark meetings with Juventus, scoring on his Serie A debut for Napoli against the Bianconeri in September 2000.
Fifteen years on, the 38-year old faces the Old Lady on a landmark occasion once more as he takes Frosinone to Juventus Stadium for the first time tomorrow night for the maiden Serie A meeting between the two teams.
Speaking to the media today, the former Gialloblu player was hopeful of a similar positive return from Wednesday’s game while also being realistic as to the scale of the challenge facing his inexperienced side.
He began: “Tomorrow we’re taking on one of the strongest sides in the league so we’ll roll our sleeves up, work hard and look to stop them from playing. We’re propping up the table at the moment so now is the time to start winning even if it means playing ugly.”
After a baptism of fire in Italy’s top-flight, losing all four of their opening fixtures, the ex-Torino forward went on to acknowledge criticism levelled at his team but was also keen to underline the positives from the Canaries’ start to the season.
“Given our current league position, it’s normal that we’ve come in for some criticism, which we’ll take on the chin, but it’s also important not to ignore the positives from our first four games.
“Juve were unlucky to lose and draw their first two home fixtures and even though Monday night’s game with Empoli is arguably more important for us in terms of our season, we’ll give everything out there tomorrow.”
When quizzed on his team selection, the Frosinone boss elected to keep his cards close to his chest but hinted that changes were likely to the eleven that lined up against Bologna at the weekend.
He concluded: “We’ll need to assess the condition of the squad between now and Wednesday as some of the boys are carrying knocks from our first few games.
With that in mind, I’ll be resting a few of them while others will need to step up and play through the pain.”
