Roma defender John Arne Riise has called for his struggling team-mates to rediscover the spirit shown last season in order to turn around their dismal form.

The weekend's 2-0 defeat at Napoli marked the third defeat already for a team which had genuine title aspirations. And with just one win in six Serie A games, the Giallorossi are feeling the heat.

"We are disappointed just as our fans are," said Riise. "Having won two consecutive games (1-0 win against Inter Milan and a 2-1  UEFA Champions League triumph over Cluj), we had high hopes of doing well at Napoli. But Napoli played better than us."

We must work hard and take three points in our next game. We just need to recover that fighting spirit.
John Arne Riise, Roma defender

Sunday's result dropped Claudio Ranieri's men to 19th place, just one point clear of bottom-side Udinese. Riise is nevertheless confident his team can turn their fortunes around and for good reason. Roma won just one of their opening six league games last season but finished second, two points behind champions Inter.

"We are going through a similar situation as that of last season," said Riise. "But we were able to turn things around back then and fight for the league title until the final day.

"We must work hard and take three points in our next game. We just need to recover that fighting spirit and I am confident Ranieri will once again help us to bounce back."

Roma host Genoa on October 16 before taking on Basel in the Champions League three days later.