Reja wants Lazio to bounce back

Lazio’s Edy Reja will be looking for a reaction from his players after they suffered a disappointing defeat at Cagliari in their last match.

One of the early front-runners in the first half of the Serie A season, Lazio have struggled for consistency so far in 2011.

They had been unbeaten in five matches since January 29 before coming unstuck in a 1-0 loss at Cagliari’s Stadio Sant’Elia on February 27.

Reja’s men now have the opportunity to bounce back immediately in a home match against eighth-placed Palermo on Sunday.

“After the defeat against Cagliari, of course we have the willingness to react, therefore we should take advantage of the home match against Palermo,” Reja said.

“We should take into consideration that Palermo has 40 points and has proved to have very good and skilled players.”

“They have a good attitude from this point of view and we’re aware of this. Therefore we should be able to play an intense and focused match.”

Reja dismissed the suggestion that he may tinker with Lazio’s formation in search of the win, insisting instead the attitude of the players could prove more important.

“Well, it doesn’t depend on the players on the pitch, it depends on the mentality and approach showed during the match or in view of the match,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if you play with one, two or three forwards.”

“There are two aspects: when you have the ball and when you don’t. When you don’t have the ball you should support the team and close the spaces; when you have the ball you should create offensive actions and attack the spaces, otherwise it won’t be possible to win it.”