Enrique hoping for long Roma stay

09 March 2012 15:17

Luis Enrique is hoping for a long stay with Roma despite his contract running out at the end of next season.

The Spaniard is under pressure at the capital club following last week's derby defeat to Lazio, and the sixth-placed giallorossi face a tough trip to Palermo on Saturday as they try to break into a European qualification position.

But despite criticism from local press, the coach is looking to the long term.

"I'll stay until 2013 at least but then who knows, maybe you'll have to put up with me for four or five years," he told reporters.

"When the club no longer thinks I'm the right person then that will be my last day but as long as the club and fans have faith in me..."

However, the former Barcelona reserve team boss acknowledged that things have not been easy since the 2-1 home reverse against Lazio.

"Mentally, this has been a difficult week for my players because we have to recover from a painful defeat," he added.

"Hence tomorrow's game in Sicily will also be tough from that perspective as well as the fact Palermo are doing very well.

"They've got an excellent squad especially up front with players such as (Fabrizio) Miccoli, (Igor) Budan and (Josip) Ilicic.

"They're particularly good on the counter-attack.

"It will be an important game for us to evaluate our future but from my perspective I'm expecting the wheel to turn."

Source: AFP