Conte fears Juventus fatigue

Conte fears Juventus fatigue

15-Feb-2013 9:05:00 PM

The 43-year-old admits he is concerned that some of his squad may be tired as they prepare for their third game in seven days against Roma on Saturday

Antonio Conte is anxious over the fitness of his Juventus squad ahead of their Serie A clash with Roma on Saturday.

The Bianconeri have already faced Fiorentina in the league and Celtic in the Champions League in the last week, and Conte admits he is concerned that his players may be suffering with fatigue due to the hectic schedule.

“The players are in good shape, I’ll just have to see if anyone needs a rest,” he told a press conference on Friday.

“The idea is to, more or less, go with the side that has done well in these past two games. But I do fear tiredness – that’s why I would have preferred to have had the match scheduled for Sunday.”

Although Juventus are eight places and 21 points clear of Roma, Conte has warned that Aurelio Andreazzoli's side remain a force to be reckoned with.

“They have a great squad and they’ll be really motivated against us,” he continued.

“Roma have great technical value. They started the season aiming for the top spots, now they’ve slowed down a bit. But this will be a really difficult game.

“Our morale is certainly sky high after that win [against Celtic]. We’ve won a lot of praise, but that shouldn’t weigh us down.

“I’m proud that we are in the same competition as Real Madrid and Manchester United. We’re an outsider who can cause problems.

“We want to enter the elite of football, but now we’ll dive back into the championship.”