Spezia boss Luca D’Angelo will not be playing for a draw in the play-off final against Cremonese even though it would be enough to send his side to Serie A.

After Thursday’s goalless stalemate in the first leg at the Giovanni Zini, Spezia would be promoted if the teams finish level after another 90 minutes, given they ended the regular season in a higher position than their opponents (third vs fourth).

The Cremona outfit bossed the possession in the first encounter but the Aquilotti showed why they finished the 38-game campaign with the best defensive record of the 20 teams in Serie B, restricting their hosts to one shot on target.

D’Angelo said: “From a tactical point of view we played a very good match. In the first half we played better, in the second they did slightly more than us. But we were balanced. The boys worked well.

“On Sunday we must play the game we feel is best. We must not think about a draw or make calculations, they are useless.”

D’Angelo also played down an injury concern over his top scorer. Francesco Pio Esposito took “just a blow, nothing serious” while the boss will make a late decision on Esposito’s older brother – midfielder Salvatore – and defender Arkadiusz Reca.

The pair came off the bench on Thursday and, on their chances of starting, D’Angelo said: “They had a portion of the game. We will have to evaluate. There’s little time between the matches.” 

For Cremonese boss Giovanni Stroppa the target is clear – they have to win to clinch promotion and follow Sassuolo and Pisa to the top flight. He is expecting another tense night.

“In these games, one episode is enough to decide the match,” said Stroppa. “We will go to get a result. It will be a heated and very nervous match, so we will have to be calm.”

Stroppa praised his team for coping with the loss of Luca Ravanelli ahead of the first game after the defender went down with appendicitis.

Stroppa said: “It’s a great shame. It was a setback but we reacted well.”

Meanwhile, Grigiorossi striker Franco Vazquez has urged his team-mates to carry on from where they left off, having performed better after half-time in the first leg.

He said: “It was a difficult match against a strong team but in the second half we played better and it’s a shame we didn’t score.

“It will be a hard-fought match. We will try to play the game and score against them. We will start from the second half (on Thursday) where we played very well.”

The Picco is sold out and Spezia defender Ales Mateju is relishing the task ahead.

He said: “We know that Cremonese have a very strong team and great technique but if we play as we know how, we can do anything.

“We know that we can close this championship well. We are focused and we want to win.”

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