SERIE A - AC Milan boss Pioli: "Neither Giroud nor Zlatan are 100% fit"

Attending latest AC Milan press conference, Rossoneri boss Stefano Pioli, ahead of facing Torino in Serie A Matchday 10 home game, stated:

"We need to be more alert, more compact and communicate better. In order to win, you need to concede very few goals; we need to pay more attention in the defensive phase.

It's too soon to be talking about them, really; 9 games out of 36 isn't many. It's only right that the fans are proud of the team but we just need to focus on the game against Torino and then Roma. We're a strong side; we're competitive and we can mix it with the best but these recent games have shown that our opponents are strong too, both tactically and physically. We're playing against top sides and that means we need to maintain a consistently high level of performance.

These were two very peculiar games. We certainly profited from the physicality and presence of Olivier and Zlatan. Neither of the two is 100% fit but it's important that they continue to perform at a high level in training because both of them are playing more games than they're doing training sessions."

We weren't at our best against Porto. We let them into it by not playing with the right attitude. In the other games, we faced issues that are common in this division - our opponents do exist too. You can always do better - we know that - and we always analyse our matches based on the performance, not just the result.

The basis must be to always regard the referees in good faith. I want to see consistent decisions being made in the same match but we can't keep discussing it. We need to accept their decisions because these are things that we cannot control. 

If Theo trains with the squad - as I think he will - then he will be available for the game. I don't think he'll start but he might come on later. Kessié is fit and available".