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Serie A

Cagliari defender Alessandro Agostini has urged his team-mates to stay grounded as they prepare for Sunday's visit of high-flying Sampdoria.

Last weekend's 3-0 victory at home to Atalanta marked their third straight triumph of the campaign and lifted the Sardinians to ninth in the standings, seven points clear of the drop zone.

It is an impressive turnaround in fortunes and the squad are brimming with confidence but Agostini has warned them to keep their feet on the ground.

"Getting big-headed, thinking you have become brilliant, would be the worst thing we could do," he told www.cagliaricalcio.net. "We have to continue as we are doing,

"We are always trying and then sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.

"With hard work and sacrifice you go far."

Agostini and his fellow defenders will have their work cut out tomorrow as they attempt to deal with Antonio Cassano.

And he admits they may be stumped for ideas on how to stop the Samp dangerman.

Agostini added: "How do you stop Cassano? By shooting him!

"Joking apart, he is a great player, but we can play our own cards.

"At the end, the team who is best will win."

Midfielder Andrea Lazzari is sidelined with fever while defensive duo Francesco Pisano and Lino Marzoratti are doubtful.

The match is a good indication of how much football can change in a matter of weeks.

It was not that long ago Cagliari were languishing at the bottom of the table while Samp were in pole position.

However, while the Rossoblu's fortunes have improved dramatically, Sampdoria's have taken a nosedive and they are threatening to go into freefall down the Serie A table.

Samp travel to the Stadio Sant'Elia on the back of a 5-1 defeat at Juventus and a somewhat fortunate draw at newly-promoted Bari - where the hosts missed a last-gasp penalty and saw an injury-time goal wrongly ruled out for offside.

But coach Luigi Del Neri insists things are not as bad as their critics are making out.

"I'm going to repeat again that Sampdoria do not have to win the league, they don't have to finish second, nor third," he said. "Let's leave the exaltations to others.

"We are not overjoyed nor depressed.

"Samp are going through a normal period, distinguished by the good victory at home against Bologna not longer than two weeks ago, by the defeat in Turin by the best Juventus team seen in this first half of the season and the draw against a Bari team who are being a revelation.

"Having said this, I believe that the match at Cagliari presents pitfalls, as every top-flight Italian game does and for this reason the lads know they have to go onto the pitch focused and determined, in order to succeed in bringing back home a positive result."

Daniele Mannini, who picked up a knock in training, should be fit in time for tomorrow's clash, but Marco Padalino and Franco Semioli are definitively out.