AC Milan have endured a tough time lately, and Sergio Conceicao thinks the solution lies in hard work.
AC Milan will not make excuses for their poor form and will strive to change their fortunes when they host Lazio in Serie A on Sunday, says head coach Sergio Conceicao.
Milan will face the Biancocelesti on the back of consecutive league defeats at Torino and Bologna over the last week, while they also went out of the Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate defeat to Feyenoord in the play-off round.
“We are aware of the moment, of what happened both because of our mistakes and what we can’t control,” Conceicao said at a pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“We can’t cling to bad luck but we can work on what’s wrong and on the mistakes we make, and bring results.”
Milan’s Serie A top-four hopes were dealt a significant blow when they lost 2-1 at Bologna on Thursday after the hosts fought back from a goal down.
“I saw positive things in the first half in Bologna,” Conceicao said.
“We conceded a goal that wasn’t right, there was a handball. (But) we shouldn’t cling to that, we weren’t up to par after this episode. We need more lightness, more balance.”
Milan have struggled for consistency this season, only once winning three Serie A games in a row. They are currently eighth in the table after 26 games, 16 points off leaders Inter.
“The physical trainer tells me that the data is at 100% but I want it to be 150%,” Conceicao said.
“Probably in all moments we need to go further. If we want to play in a certain way, we need changes of pace, acceleration, sprints.”
Emotions will run high when Milan welcome fifth-placed Lazio, where the Portuguese manager played for three years over two spells.
Conceicao was a Lazio player from 1998 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2004, helping them win six trophies including a Serie A title and two Coppa Italia triumphs.
“The human being is full of memories, it’s normal. But even if my parents were there tomorrow to play for Lazio, I play to win,” Conceicao said.
