Roma coach Rudi Garcia has urged his players to show "character and pride" as they chase a place in next season's Champions League.

The Giallorossi currently sit in third place in the Serie A table, but a three-game winless run means that Napoli are just two points behind them.

With a trip to Sassuolo up next on Wednesday, Garcia is eager for Roma to leave the Mapei Stadium with three points to keep alive their hopes of a top-three finish.

"At this stage of the season, we need character and pride. We'll see where we are come the end of the season," he is quoted as saying by Goal.com.

"I don't want any distractions, let's just focus on Sassuolo. We have to avoid gifting the opposition goals like we did in the reverse fixture. We need to be clinical up top. We have to secure three points to achieve our aim of qualifying for the Champions League."

Roma head to Sassuolo on the back of a dramatic 2-1 defeat to Inter Milan at San Siro.