Mancini hails former teammate Rossi before Italy vs Hungary

Roberto Mancini

, the

boss, is delighted to see

improving under the reign of Marco Rossi, his former teammate. Italy and Hungary will go against each other on Monday in the Nations League, their final battle in Group A3. Italy need to win the battle to be able to leapfrog their hosts in the finals in Budapest.

In a group that had Germany and England, Hungary appeared as an easy pick for relegation. However, victories over both sides have boosted their chance, with Mancini “pleased” to have seen his former teammate showing off his skill.

"Playing in Hungary is never easy, but I am pleased that they have done so well in the Nations League, especially as their coach is my former team-mate,"

he stated.

"I see it as 50-50, because they can also count on a draw to go through. The fact we are here challenging for first place with 90 minutes to go is already pleasing, so we'll give it our all."

Italy will not have the services of Ciro Immobile for the clash although he made it to the airport, but he was left behind. Reports claim that Claudio Loitio, the Lazio president, asked him to stay due to a thigh injury and Mancini said that it was not worth the risk.

"We tried and Immobile did everything right in trying to stay with us, but this morning we decided it wasn’t worth the risk,"

he added.

"It was disappointing for him and for us. Ciro would happily have stayed, and he did during the first game, but it was too dangerous to risk it.

"He wasn't in awful shape, but hasn't trained with us for three days. We met up when arriving in Milan, but his absence had already been discussed."

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