Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri insists his side remain confident in their Serie A title bid, despite a frustrating 1-1 draw at Sassuolo.
The Italian champions had Paul Pogba to thank midway through the first half, with the Frenchman producing a stunning curling effort to cancel out Simone Zaza's opener.
But a disappointing performance saw Juve fail to make a decisive breakthrough against a resolute Sassuolo defence.
Despite that Allegri insists he is not worried by the lack of cutting edge shown by his side on Saturday evening.
Allegri told Sky Sport Italia: "I knew there were difficulties in this game, especially as we had so many internationals out all week. Sassuolo were coming off some bad results but with good performances.
"They created problems for us tonight, we didn't have many shots on goal and this allowed them to get several counter-attacks. They pushed us back and made us run risks, even though Consigli saved them a few times. We should've done better.
"The draw must be accepted considering the performance and what didn't go right this evening."
However, despite his own side's shortcomings, Allegri insisted Sassuolo deserved credit for their performance, which saw the lift themselves off the bottom of the table.
He added: "Sassuolo deserve credit for forcing us to play differently and making life difficult for us. We struggled at the start, then got the game in hand but overall didn't have enough shots on goal, even from distance."
Despite losing their 100 per cent record, Allegri claims his side are still confident of successfully defending their Serie A title.
"We are still top of the table and a draw against Sassuolo doesn't change anything. In Serie A you need consistency, so if in each seven games we win six and draw one, we'll get the title!"
Allegri will hope his side can return to winning ways when they host Palermo next weekend, a side they've beaten in four of their previous meetings, without conceding a goal.
a’s opener.
But a disappointing performance saw Juve fail to make a decisive breakthrough against a resolute Sassuolo defence.
However, Allegri insists he is not worried by the lack of cutting edge shown by his side on Saturday evening.
He told Sky Sport Italia: "I knew there were difficulties in this game, especially as we had so many internationals out all week. Sassuolo were coming off some bad results, but with good performances.
"They created problems for us tonight, we didn’t have many shots on goal and this allowed them to get several counter-attacks. They pushed us back and made us run risks, even though Consigli saved them a few times. We should’ve done better.
"The draw must be accepted considering the performance and what didn’t go right this evening."
However, despite his own side’s shortcomings, Allegri insisted Sassuolo deserved credit for their performance, which saw the lift themselves off the bottom of the table.
He added: "Sassuolo deserve credit for forcing us to play differently and making life difficult for us. We struggled at the start, then got the game in hand, but overall didn’t have enough shots on goal, even from distance."
Despite losing their 100 per cent record, Allegri claims his side are still confident of successfully defending their Serie A title.
"We are still top of the table and a draw against Sassuolo doesn’t change anything. In Serie A you need consistency, so if in each seven games we win six and draw one, we’ll get the title!"
Allegri will hope his side can return to winning ways when they host Palermo next weekend, a side they’ve beaten in four of their previous meetings, without conceding a goal.
