Massimiliano Allegri insisted there is cause for optimism at Juventus as he demanded a strong finish to the year and ruled out a desperate transfer plunge.
Juventus travel to face Bologna on Saturday before wrapping up 2021 with a home game against Cagliari on Tuesday.
They will resume with games against Napoli and Roma in January, a testing opening to the year for a Juventus side who have spluttered through the season so far.
There were high hopes of a Scudetto tilt when Allegri returned to Turin in the close season after the failed experiment of having rookie coach Andrea Pirlo in charge of the team last term.
Rather than challenge for top spot, Juventus head into the latest round of games in seventh place, already 12 points adrift of leaders Inter. Allegri won five Scudetti with Juve in his first spell in charge, but there is ground to make up this time.
Asked what light there might be at the end of the tunnel, Allegri told a news conference on Friday: "I see it, even if at the moment we are lagging behind in the standings.
"We need to work to improve. I am very happy with the choice I made. In this squad there are players with little experience of winning, and it takes time to train them.
"I am sorry we have fewer points than we might have."
Pointing to a string of fixtures where Juventus under-performed this season, he added: "We can't only get two points from games with Verona, Udinese, Sassuolo, Empoli and Venezia; two out of 15 is very few."
Juventus are not looking to buy their way out of trouble, Allegri insisted.
His squad boasts plenty of quality, including several Euro 2020 winners, and it is about drawing the best performances from the resources he already has that is occupying Allegri.
"We talk to the club and evaluate every day, but the transfer market will not solve the goal problem," Allegri said. "The squad is excellent, but we need to improve."
He stressed his focus is not on a top-four finish and Champions League football, but rather on shorter-term objectives.
"In January we have to face Napoli and Roma, and they are two important steps," Allegri added. "We must be ready.
"We need to understand our mistakes and improve also on our goalscoring. We must do our best, and then play the second part of the season in the best possible way. We need to work with confidence, we still have 21 games to improve our position."
Juventus have won their last 10 Serie A games against Bologna, which bodes well for Saturday.
Indeed, Bologna's last home win over Juve in Serie A was back in November 1998.
There are signs of Juve sharpening up, having conceded just two goals in their last six league games and taken 13 points from a possible 18. Four clean sheets across that stretch is as many as they managed in their previous 29 Serie A matches.
Yet the goals are not flowing freely this season, with Juve managing just 23 from their opening 17 games, which is their lowest tally at this stage since 1999-2000 (22 goals).
Paulo Dybala, their top scorer with five Serie A goals, will miss the Bologna game after a recent knock. The last time Juventus had a leading scorer with five or fewer goals after the first 17 matches of a league season was in 1991-92, when Pierluigi Casiraghi had five. Juve still managed to finish as runners-up to Milan in that campaign.
Aaron Ramsey is another confirmed absentee, while Dejan Kulusevski could feature but Allegri said the winger "doesn't have 90 minutes in his legs" after surgery to resolve a sinusitis problem that affected his ability to eat, meaning he has lost weight.
Federico Chiesa and Danilo are also sidelined for now, with question marks over the availability of several others, including Giorgio Chiellini and Manuel Locatelli.
Moca FC's Baez, Correa sanctioned by Concacaf Disciplinary Committee for violent conduct in Carib Cup semis clash against Cavalier
The Concacaf Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned players Miguel Baez and Jesus Correa of Dominican Republic club Moca FC for incidents that occurred during their Concacaf Caribbean Cup second-leg semi-final match against Jamaica’s Cavalier FC on Thursday, October 30.
After considering the documentation and evidence gathered during its investigation and based on the competition regulations and the applicable disciplinary code, the Disciplinary Committee has imposed Miguel Baez a six-match suspension and Jesus Correa a three-match suspension for violent conduct.
The sanctions include the automatic one-match suspension for the on-field direct red cards given to each player during that 7-0 beating in Kingston.
Both Baez and Correa must serve their suspensions during the upcoming 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup third-place matches and future editions of the competition.
Moca FC is scheduled to meet Haiti's Real Hope FC in that home-and-away tie on November 26 and December 3 to determine the next Caribbean representative that will contest next year's Concacaf Champions Cup. Finalists Cavalier and Cibao FC, also of the Dominican Republic, have secured automatic berths.
Meanwhile, the Disciplinary Committee has also warned the players and the club that more severe sanctions could be taken should incidents occur during future matches.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
Vlahovic out of Juventus clash with AC Milan
Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to AC Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also a doubt for the Champions League game at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh, and the manager, after he confirmed the Serbian's absence for Saturday's game at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing on Wednesday at Villa Park.
"I don't know. He definitely won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible," Motta told a press conference on Friday.
"Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we'll keep playing with the same principles, attacking and defending together."
Vlahovic is the latest of Motta's injury problems at Juventus. Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik is a long-term absentee.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the game with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury, the same issue which will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
"I'm really disappointed for Cabal because, like Bremer, he'll be out for a long time," Motta said.
"This is another reason to push ourselves, to commit that bit more so that these absences don't weigh too heavily."
Juventus go into the game as the only unbeaten side in Serie A, but find themselves sixth in the standings in what is so far a very tight title race, with just two points separating Motta's side from leaders Napoli.
"It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public," Motta said.
"We must all try to continue like this. We have to try to get as many positive results as possible."
Milan are one place behind Juve but six points off Motta's side.
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