Fiorentina sports chief Daniele Prade says Nikola Milenkovic retains their full confidence.

The Serbia defender has been blamed for defeat to Lazio on Monday night.

But Prade said, "He is a pillar for us. He did a lot for Fiorentina, just as we did for him. He gave up other clubs to stay in Florence. He has all our trust and respect, he is one of our captains."

Prade was speaking at an open training session yesterday and added: "We really needed this support from our fans. Seeing them here is fantastic, I thank them. The defeat of Monday was very difficult, because losing like that hurts a lot.

"But this motivates us, now a very important match awaits us. The players must remain calm, they must not think too much about the match and they must continue doing what they are doing. We have always made good matches, except against Empoli and Inter. The team is expressing itself and the coach knows it."