FIORENTINA

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" The cities of Siena and Florence are two of the most beautiful towns in Italy and have an historic rivalry that goes back centuries.

However, memories of their glorious past will count for little in Sunday's Tuscany derby between their two football clubs whose players will be more motivated by the fear of what could be an impoverished future.

Both teams still have a lot of work to do to avoid relegation to Serie B and that will be uppermost in their minds as they meet - as they always do - at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Both teams have named their ground after Franchi, a former Tuscany football administrator, but it is Siena who will play hosts on Sunday. The home side's plight is more desperate than that of their visitors as they are second bottom of Serie A with only Atalanta below them in the standings.

Michele Mignani is in his ninth season at Siena, who last season played in the top flight for the first time in their 100-year history. With Siena's plight worse than that of the visitors from Florence, Mignani is all too aware that even a draw would be an unsatisfactory outcome for the Bianconeri.

He said: ``We must get the maximum result to take full advantage of this and capitalise on the draws we have had in recent matches.''

The draws have been frustrating for Siena who have thrown away several winning positions since Luigi De Canio succeeded the sacked Luigi Simoni as coach. They have drawn their last six matches and in three of the last four they have conceded leads, two of which were two-goal leads.

With first-choice goalkeeper Alex Manninger a long-term injury casualty, De Canio will be hoping Marco Fortin has recovered from flu by Sunday. If not, Adriano Zancope will get the nod.

Francesco Cozza is once more available for selection while Massimo Maccarone has been following a special training programme following his own injury problems. Daniele Portanova is suspended after being sent off in the 2-2 draw with Messina. Fiorentina are not in the relegation zone but far too close for comfort.

At least they picked up their first win under new coach Dino Zoff last time out, beating Parma 2-1. The Tuscan derby sees both Siena and Fiorentina involved in the relegation battle. Derbies are always difficult to predict and this will be no exception. The

Bianconeri and Viola must not lose in order to stay in touch with all other relegation contenders; therefore a draw seems the most obvious choice. However a win can be achieved by either side as Siena have been playing extremely well in recent weeks, grabbing only draws but no wins due to some unlucky situations, while Fiorentina will have Bojinov back in the first team.

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