Genoa boss seeks happy away day

Pasquale Marino wants his Genoa players to transfer their strong home form to away matches ahead of their trip to face Inter Milan.

Genoa sit eighth in Serie A thanks to a respectable return of five wins, two draws and two defeats from nine home matches played this season.

They have been less successful on the road, collecting just two wins and one draw and losing six times in nine outings.

On Thursday, they travel to take on holders Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia’s round of 16 – a daunting prospect for any team struggling away from home.

But Marino, who took over at Genoa on December 22, wants his players to overcome their travel woes in the second half of 2011/12, starting at San Siro.

“I would like the squad to have the same mentality away from home as they do at home,” he said.

“This has to be something we work on now from a mental point of view.”

“We need to play with a bit more freedom.”

“It doesn’t matter how many people are watching the game at the San Siro, it will still be 11 players versus 11 players.”

“If you have a way of playing, you have to always stick to it.”

“When you play away from home or play teams that on paper are stronger than you, then you need to make the most of phases when you’re in control, because you’re wasting energy when you defend.”

Genoa are unlikely to field the same team which recorded an encouraging 3-2 win at home to third-placed Udinese in the league on Saturday, with Marino set to hand his fringe players an opportunity.

“We go into this game against Inter with a rather weakened squad, we’ve had a few more injuries even since the weekend,” he said.

“There are a few players that I can’t use, so that’s a problem that still remains for us.”

“But it’s a match in the fifth round of the cup, and we want to be in with a chance of winning silverware.”

“That’s not to say it’s going to be easy though. It’s a great incentive for the players who perhaps don’t play so much, and we will certainly be giving our best.”