Stefano Pioli hails Lazio "character"

Lazio manager Stefano Pioli has said that he is delighted with the performances of his players following their impressive recent form.

The Biancocelesti claimed a 4-0 victory over Empoli this afternoon to stretch their winning run in Serie A to eight games.

"We must be satisfied with our current position and our performance against a difficult Empoli side, playing in the heat after the Coppa Italia midweek," Football Italia quotes him as saying. "Of course this streak means something, but we only got here by taking it one game at a time and we mustn't let go of that approach until the end of May.

"The team knew this was the most important week to really prove our maturity. We won the Coppa Italia semi-final and the fans welcomed us back at 2am, so a normal team could easily slip into complacency.

"Luckily, my team is not normal. I have so much quality and such players of character that they didn't let it get to them."

Lazio have moved up to second in the Serie A table, with their city-rivals Roma a point behind in third place.