An injury crisis has hit Juventus ahead of Saturday night's derby against Torino.
The Turin giants will be without seven men including Italy goalie Gianluigi Buffon, Swedish midfielder Christian Poulsen, Italy winger Mauro Camoranesi and France striker David Trezeguet.
The latest blow to the squad came in Wednesday's game against Real Madrid when all-action Mali midfielder Mohamed Sissoko clattered into fellow midfielder Claudio Marchisio, leaving the Italian with a sprained ankle.
But skipper Alessandro Del Piero says the injury crisis won't dampen the mood in the camp, lifted by the 2-1 win over Real.
The victory, which eased pressure on coach Claudio Ranieri, ''has given us enthusiasm and courage,'' Del Piero said.
Juve are in 12th place with 9 points after losing to Napoli last time out, a defeat that sparked talk of a ''malaise'' in the locker room.
Del Piero said: ''Perhaps we aren't totally cured but the Real game showed we weren't that ill''.
Another team and coach looking for a boost are Roma and Luciano Spalletti who lost 4-0 at the Olimpico Sunday to leaders Inter Milan to stay in 14th spot, nine points behind Inter's 16.
Roma went down 1-0 at Chelsea Wednesday night but won praise from the British press.
However, Spalletti is likely to come under intense media scrutiny if the Romans fail to hold high-flying Udinese (14 points) at Udine.
Catania, one of three teams in second place on 14 points, face Siena (8 points) in the early Saturday match.
The other team, Napoli, travels to Lazio which has slid from top slot to 5th in the last two weeks.
Milan, level with Lazio on 13 points, visits Atalanta, also on 13 points, amid a media flutter about David Beckham's winter move to the San Siro.
Inter hosts Genoa, in 9th slot on 12 points.
Fiorentina (13 points) travel to Palermo (12 points) after losing 3-0 at Bayern Munich in midweek.
Just four points separate the top ten teams in the table.
