(Reuters) – AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho is hopeful that most of his players will soon be fit with Diego Llorente back and several others returning to training.
Last season’s Europa League runners-up have struggled for form at the start of the campaign and are in 10th place in the standings with 11 points from their first eight matches but have won their last two.
“(Renato) Sanches and (Lorenzo) Pellegrini are still out, but seeing (Marash) Kumbulla and (Tammy) Abraham back on the training ground makes me happy,” Mourinho said at a press conference on Saturday.
Mourinho confirmed that defender Llorente would be available for their Serie A clash against Monza at home on Sunday.
“I hope and hope that next week Sanches will also be able to return to work in the group,” Mourinho said, adding that Chris Smalling had also returned to group training but would not be available to play.
Paulo Dybala is still sidelined after suffering a knee injury in the 4-1 win at Cagliari earlier this month, and Mourinho was keeping his cards close to his chest about who would partner Romelu Lukaku up front.
“I don’t want to say who will start tomorrow. Paulo (Dybala) is an important player for his creativity and positioning, but we have a good group of forwards available,” he said.
“We scored plenty of nice goals this season, we improved in terms of construction.
“When we are at full strength we play even better than last year. For me, beauty remains the result, the points – that’s what matters.”
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis)
