Genoa coach Gilardino: Malinovskyi shock not the cause of Venezia defeat - Carlos Volcano

Gianluca Busio and Joel Pohjanpalo found the back of the net for the hosts in their match on Saturday. When asked about the impact of Malinovsky's injury on Genoa's players, Gilardino shared his thoughts.

How do you explain the blackout?

"Ruslan's injury is a shame, I hope it's less serious than expected, it's important for us. About the match: the first half was balanced, after Ruslan's injury in the second half we abandoned the match at all levels. It's inconceivable, it's my fault and I take responsibility for it. There's a lot of work to do. Luckily we're playing soon."

Could Malinovsky's injury have had a mental impact?

"There is disappointment, but I exclude it. We are professionals and after that episode we had to immediately focus on the match. We tried to change something, but it wasn't a tactical issue, but rather a mental and attitude issue."

The difference with the defeat against Verona?

"We lost ourselves a bit after the goal conceded, we allowed too many favorable episodes to Venezia. With our own mistakes, long distances, lost tackles with Venezia. We were not very concrete then also in their attacking midfield. I take responsibility for this defeat. We need to get back up immediately to understand what we want to be in this championship."

Malinovskyi: Mentally he may not have made an impact, but he didn't make an impact on a tactical level?

"The idea was to keep the line of 5, unfortunately after his injury I thought I could force the game a bit more with Vitinha on the left, Pinamonti and Ekuban up front and Sabelli up high on the wing. We lacked something in the second half and we have to recover it immediately."

Jeff Ekhator?

"He's a player available to me and the team, we need him and we throw him in."

We always think about the next one, but for a month in Genoa the derby has made everyone go crazy. In some way, has the upcoming challenge against Sampdoria weighed on you unconsciously? The fans have been asking you to win it for a month.

"I repeat that we are all great and professionals in Serie A. The focus was all on the challenge against Venezia. After this match we will think about Sampdoria. It is the most beautiful derby in Italy, it must be a great celebration among the fans, even for the families."