Massara: ‘Roma need more goals, good to see Ziolkowski first start’

Jan Ziolkowski and Roma director Frederic Massara (asroma.com)

Ricky Massara is glad to see Jan Ziolkowski get his first Roma start against Viktoria Plzen, but admits they are ‘working on’ making the attack more effective.

It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game, Steaua Bucharest-Bologna and Rapid Vienna-Fiorentina on the Liveblog.

It has been a mixed bag in the Europa League so far this season for the Giallorossi, who earned a 2-1 victory away to OGC Nice, but then lost 1-0 at home to Lille.

In that match, they missed the same penalty three times with two different players, as it had to be retaken twice for encroachment.

Roma struggling to convert chances

“It is a fact that we haven’t scored many goals, the coach is working on it, but it is not just about the strikers, rather the whole team,” Massara told Sky Sport Italia.

“At least the defence is very solid at the moment. We saw against Inter that we did create chances, and that bodes well for improvement. We hope to start scoring many goals from this evening.”

Meanwhile, there is a new face in defence, as Poland international Jan Ziolkowski gets his first start since arriving in the summer.

“The club believes in this lad and we are happy to see his quality in the team. He is young and working hard, learning a lot from the coach. He is slowly settling in, that’s pretty normal considering he is in a whole new league.”

Leon Bailey finally made his debut at the weekend, having sustained an injury in his first training session after the move from Aston Villa.

Nonetheless, Roma are still expected to make more investments in the summer to give Gian Piero Gasperini other alternatives in the wide roles.

“Bailey came on well on Saturday and we expect him to give an important contribution to the attack,” continued Massara.

“If there are any opportunities on the transfer market in January, then we’ll be ready to take them, always taking into account the Financial Fair Play situation.

“Now we have a run of games and they will help us realise if we need to intervene or not.”