Palermo

It was a tragic week for Palermo head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, whose mother passed away. The Rosanero, meanwhile, remain firmly in a battle against relegation but Gasperini took some comfort from a spirited 2-2 draw against Lazio last time out. Egidio Rios and Paulo Dybala turned the scoreline in Palermo's favour following Sergio Floccari's opener, but Hernanes earned the mainlanders a point with his late penalty. Palermo are now four points from safety going into Sunday's game at Cagliari. "It was a great game and I'm happy with how the team reacted to going 1-0 down, but once again we are left with the regret of not getting all three points, "Gasperini said. "We played really well in the second half. The first goal was quite strange and we were a bit unlucky on the penalty but other than that we gave very little away. We have had a difficult schedule which sees us playing all the best teams. If we had been away from home we would have squandered all the points so we can take some comfort from that." Abel Hernandez and Andrea Mantovani will not return to action until the end of March due to serious injury, with Santiago Garcia serving a one-match suspension at the Stadio Is Arenas. Blackburn midfielder Mauro Formica has joined the Sicilians' cause, though, with Wigan striker Mauro Boselli set to follow suit before the weekend. Palermo have suffered back-to-back defeats on Sardinia and have failed to return south with all three points since September 2007.