Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa has called on his team to treat all their remaining Serie A fixtures as finals.
The first in a series of finals will therefore be when the Viola host Inter on Sunday evening in an important fixture in the race to qualify for the Champions League with the Tuscans one point ahead of the Nerazzurri.
“The Inter game is important, all our games should be treated as though they are finals,” said Sousa to reporters.
“We know that we can play at the top level and compete against sides who have invested more money than what we have.
“I want to continuously improve the side, both mentally and physically.
“It’s not enough to place nicely without winning, my project is to make the boys better all the time.”
The Portuguese also denied that he had fallen out with the club hierarchy over a lack of ambition and investment.
“Things have been written which make certain things seems worse,” Sousa explained.
“The owners haven’t told me any of the things which have been written.
“I’ve been told from the first day what I am here for, my ideas are constructive and the only way to move forward is to analyse and think about things.
“Some people don’t like to express themselves but I’m not like that, nothing happened and the relationship is good.”
The 45-year-old also discussed his striker Nikola Kalinic who hasn’t scored since December.
“Even when we have had players do very well on a individual level, the focus is always on the team,” added Sousa.
“He has had some physical problems but we have all helped him and he’s improving a lot.
“The goals will come, he’s a a good player who works for his team-mates.”
