Roma coach Luciano Spalletti has blamed the players’ attitude after giving away a 2-0 lead at Cagliari to end up with a 2-2 draw, continuing their miserable week following their Champions League exit last Tuesday.

“It all depends on our attitude in certain situations,” the coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“If we play the way we did during certain periods of tonight’s game, we’ll have many more difficult weeks.

“Tonight’s performance proves we need to find our psychological balance and create more focus in our minds to reach our objectives. We could’ve controlled a game like this when 2-0 up, but at the first sign of difficulty, we didn’t hold up.”

The Romans were 2-0 up in Sardinia courtesy of goals from Diego Perotti and Kevin Strootman, but couldn't protect their lead as Marco Borriello and Marco Sau levelled the score late in the game.

“We have to work. There are players, for example Mohamed Salah, who can be brilliant in fits and starts, but then get isolated during the game,” the coach said.

“We have a lack of character at Roma and need more than technique to fill that gap. We tried to win today, but at the moment it’s just not working. I cannot explain why we didn’t try to finish the match off earlier.

“It happens so often now. When we have to control the game, we hold back, give away the ball really cheaply and our opponents take advantage.

“If we don’t react to this sort of thing, it’s difficult to see what objectives we can reach. We’re finished before we even start,” Spalletti concluded.

Roma conceded a shock 3-0 home defeat last week in a total debacle for the Serie A giants, who ended the match with only nine men on the pitch.

They are now fifth in the league with four points after two games. 

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)

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