Sampdoria coach Luigi Del Neri feels his players will put Wednesday's big defeat at Juventus behind them when they host Bari on Sunday.

The Blucerchiati were beaten 5-1 in Turin, a result that brought Samp's four-match unbeaten run to an end and saw them drop to third in the standings, five points behind leaders Inter Milan.

"We are disappointed to have lost 5-1," said Del Neri, "especially for our fans.

"However, this defeat is not down to a weak performance by Sampdoria but rather to Juventus playing a perfect game.

"This Juventus team has been built to fight and probably to win the league title.

"I think the Juve we saw on the pitch will have no problems in fighting for the title until the end.

"As for us, we must try to remain in the highest position as possible but with great composure.

"We must remain calm, especially after such a defeat that does not diminish the great work we have done up to now."

It was only the second defeat of the season for

The defeat was only Sampdoria's second of the campaign. They went into the game at Juventus with 20 points, not bad for a side that finished 13th last season.

The Sampdoria fans that travelled the short distance north from Genoa to Turin to watch the Juventus game applauded their players after the final whistle.

"Our fans are exceptional," said Del Neri. "Their support is unconditional and even on Wednesday they appreciated the effort put forward by my players on the field."

Del Neri's side will fancy their chances as they have yet to lose at their Luigi Ferraris stadium with 13 points of a possible 15 collected there so far.

No team, even a promoted one like Bari, can be taken lightly.

"Bari is one of the surprises of the tournament," Samp defender Daniele Gastaldello said.

"They have proved so far this season that they can make life difficult for any team, including Inter.

"However, we want to bounce back from Wednesday's setback and we know we can beat anyone."

Despite a positive return to Serie A this season, Bari did struggle on Wednesday when they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Parma, also their second loss.

Bari boss Giampiero Ventura was hoping his team, the Galletti, would climb to fourth in the table but they have instead dropped to ninth.

"We accept the result and we compliment Parma who are now fourth in the standings," said Ventura.

"It is better that they are in that position in the table as we are not mentally ready to be at that high level just yet."

Ventura hopes his side can be more lethal in front of goal.

"From the start of the season we have made too many mistakes in attack," he said.

"We create chances but we fail to deliver.

"We need to work hard to make sure we don't throw away points as we have done in certain games."