Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has emphasised the need for calm and focus as the Old Lady look to end their winless run this weekend.

Having been held 1-1 by Empoli while down to 10 men and then beaten 1-0 by Serie A leaders Inter Milan and Udinese, Juve went a fourth successive game without victory last Saturday with a 2-2 draw at Hellas Verona.

Allegri’s side are second in the table, nine points adrift of Inter having played a game more, ahead of Sunday’s game at home to Frosinone.

Allegri told a press conference: “We have worked well, as always, and tomorrow we have only one goal – to return to winning ways.

“Periods like these in football happen, I’ve been through them before and the boys know it too. We have to stay calm and focused and think about the months ahead, with two big goals to achieve – qualification for the Champions League and trying to win the Coppa Italia.

“There are some matches, like last Saturday’s in Verona, where we struggle. It is precisely in these kinds of matches that we have to maintain greater compactness and great concentration.

“If I think back to our last performances, with Inter and Udinese I saw good things, with Verona less so. However, I am convinced that this period will do us good.”

Since Allegri returned to Juventus in 2021 for a second spell in charge, he has overseen the team finishing fourth and then seventh.

He previously had five years in the job from 2014 to 2019, which saw Juve crowned league champions in all five campaigns, part of a sequence of nine consecutive titles for the club.

Allegri added: “Winning at Juve is something that is always demanded and criticism is the order of the day – if you win 3-2 you have conceded too many goals, if you win 1-0 you have scored too few.

“But if I analyse our history, I see that Juve has gone through only two cycles of great and consecutive victories, winning five Scudetti in the 1930s and nine in the last period.

“This means that winning is not something normal and taken for granted. We have the goal of getting back to winning ways and for this the club has started a path and a project that is going forward, also aiming to grow our own players.

“For this, qualifying for the Champions League is fundamental, as it is a competition that we have not missed since 2011, which is also something that cannot be taken for granted.”

Frosinone, Serie B champions last term, are three points above the relegation zone with 23 from 25 games.

Boss Eusebio Di Francesco said at his pre-match press conference: “We deserved the points we got, we probably also demonstrated something more.

“And we have to go and get those points back. Starting from the next one and not being a sacrificial victim of a team like Juventus because we go to play with them. Knowing that sooner or later something has to come back to us.”

Defiant AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli has brushed off talk that Antonio Conte is being lined up to replace him.

Milan head into Saturday’s Serie A trip to Frosinone sitting in third place in the table but seven points adrift of Juventus in second and eight behind leaders Inter Milan, who have a game in hand on both.

The top two meet at the San Siro on Sunday evening, by which point Pioli’s men will hope to have closed the gap – although whether that would placate his critics is doubtful, with the club’s receding title hopes having been dealt a further blow by last weekend’s 2-2 home draw with Bologna.

Asked about the speculation linking former Italy boss Conte with his job, the 58-year-old told a press conference: “It doesn’t bother me at all. Maybe it bores me a little.

“What matters is that I and my players think we can do our best between now and the end of the season.

“The future doesn’t worry or bother me. We just want to demonstrate, the team and I, all our value.”

Milan will run out at the Stadio Benito Stirpe defending a seven-game unbeaten league run, with Atalanta the last side to beat them in the competition on December 9.

Wins over Monza, Sassuolo, Empoli, Roma and Udinese, coupled with draws against Salernitana and Bologna, since have helped them keep pace with Inter and Juve, if only just, but Pioli insists they simply have to concentrate on themselves as they attempt to claw back lost ground.

He said: “The season is still long and can give us further satisfaction. We have to put all our attention on the next match. Inter v Juve shouldn’t interest us.”

Frosinone will take to the field having halted a five-game losing run with a home victory over Cagliari followed by a draw at Verona, although the quality of the opposition this time around is significantly higher.

Eusebio Di Francesco’s men lost 3-1 at Milan on December 2 and have won only one of the eight league games they have played since.

Di Francesco will make late decisions on a lengthy list of injury doubts including Sergio Kalaj, Riccardo Marchizza, Anthony Oyono, Jaime Baez, Pol Lirola, Kevin Bonifazi, Mateus Lusuardi, Nadir Zortea, Marvin Cuni and Arijon Ibrahimovic.

Frosinone coach Eusebio Di Francesco feels his side will have to play beyond their limits when they face the “most complete” team Inter Milan at the San Siro on Sunday.

The Nerazzurri secured a place in the Champions League knockout stages with a 1-0 win away at RB Salzburg on Wednesday night, which was a fifth-straight victory through all competitions.

Simone Inzaghi’s side, though, were knocked off the top of Serie A after Juventus beat Cagliari on Saturday.

Frosinone, who were promoted to the top flight this season, got themselves back on track last weekend with victory over Empoli, having lost back-to-back league games.

Canaries coach Di Francesco, though, is all too aware of just what challenge awaits his side at the San Siro.

“I believe that in order to compete with Inter we will have to outdo ourselves,” Di Francesco said.

“Inter are the most complete team, they are difficult to face and a club who have given continuity to the work of their coach.

“He has many weapons at his disposal, they are so difficult to deal with from all points of view.

“But what is most scary about Inter is the awareness, the knowledge they have among themselves which makes them a tough team to beat.

“If so far we have put in 10 out of 10, now to be able to compete with this Inter we will have to put in, I won’t say double, but come close.

“We must go and play this match with the same enthusiasm we have had so far.”

Despite the challenges ahead, Di Francesco wants his side to stay true to the values which have helped push them towards the top half of the table.

“In terms of the characteristics of the players who will be involved, the right solutions must be chosen, but we must not lose our identity and our principles of play,” said Di Francesco, who took over the newly-promoted side in the summer following the departure of Fabio Grosso.

“We must rely on the fact of enthusiasm, of the great desire to go and play the match.”

The Frosinone coach told a press conference: “I don’t share the concept that it’s not possible to face Inter with a smile and try to have fun – factors that will have to accompany us until the end of the championship this season.”

Di Francesco feels his players must focus on their collective goal, rather than get swept up in the occasion.

“I tried to tell my boys that when you enter the pitch in any stadium the strength lies in putting two plugs in your ears and to just focus on your team’s goal,” he said.

“That is what I did this week too, I didn’t give much weight to the match itself.

“I made it clear that we will have a strong team to fight against, however that doesn’t mean just standing behind them, but we must also be trying to fight back.”

Inter coach Inzaghi did not hold a media conference ahead of Sunday’s Serie A fixture.

Inzaghi is expected to recall Nicolo Barella after the midfielder did not feature in the Champions League.

Nerazzurri captain Lautaro Martinez started on the bench in Salzburg before coming on during the second half and scoring the late penalty which secured a 1-0 win.

Juventus defender Gianluca Frabotta has joined Verona on a season-long loan deal.

The Italy under-21 international will spend the 2021-22 campaign with the Gialloblu, who finished 10th in Serie A last term.

Frabotta joined Juve from Bologna in August 2019, making his senior debut in a 3-1 defeat by Roma the following year.

The left-back appeared 17 times for the Bianconeri in all competitions under Andrea Pirlo last season, scoring in the Coppa Italia victory over SPAL.

Verona have reportedly seen off competition from Atalanta and Genoa to land Frabotta's signature.

The 22-year-old will link up with Eusebio Di Francesco, who replaced Ivan Juric at Stadio Bentegodi in June.

The former Roma boss guided the Giallorossi to the Champions League semi-finals in 2018, when they lost a thrilling tie 7-6 on aggregate against Liverpool.