Stefano Pioli calls for consistency as AC Milan aim to return to winning ways

AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli has urged his side to remain “consistent” ahead of their meeting with Fiorentina on Saturday.

Following the conclusion of the international break, Serie A action resumes with Milan hoping to return to winning ways at the San Siro.

Despite their good start to the season, Milan have not won a league game since the beginning of October and are now third in the table following two losses and two draws in their last four Serie A matches.

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Those last four matches have seen Milan’s opponents rally in the second half to snatch wins or come from behind to earn a draw, but Pioli has called on his team to achieve consistency throughout games.

He told a press conference: “I have many responsibilities, I remain focused on trying to always do better together with the club. So far, we haven’t achieved what we should have, but we’ve taken responsibility.

“The team are working well and are united, but we can do better. We’re only thinking about tomorrow’s game. For four consecutive matches, our second-half performances have cost us.

“Our concentration levels mustn’t drop, and we need to be consistent throughout the game. We haven’t lost our spirit.

“Words are meaningless and facts do the talking. We’ve analysed our mistakes and mustn’t repeat them. We have to perform at a high level for 90 minutes. We need to show that we’re a competitive side.

“Fiorentina have always caused us problems, and we’ll need to be compact, determined and decisive. They play attacking football, get a lot of men forward and are certainly a difficult side to face.”

Milan have been handed a boost with Christian Pulisic, Davide Calabria and Ruben Loftus-Cheek available for Saturday’s clash, but they will still be without Simon Kjaer, Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor.

Pioli also confirmed that 15-year-old forward Francesco Camarda has been training with the squad and could be used in future games if needed.

“I think talent is ageless, Francesco is talented. Sometimes, destiny creates certain opportunities, and both we and him need to remain calm,” Piolo added.

“He’s a very young lad but also very mature character-wise, and he’s ready to give us a hand if needed.

“Whether he’s used will depend on many factors, but he’s trained well with us in the past few days. I’m sure he has a great future ahead of him.”