Roma have reduced their Serie A ambitions to reinforcing their grip on second place as they look to restore confidence following a run of under-par results, said coach Rudi Garcia.

Roma travel to Verona on Sunday with a 10-point deficit to leaders Juventus after the defending champions beat Atalanta 2-1 in Turin on Friday.

The Giallorossi have drawn five of their last six league games and now know that anything less than a win could spell the end of their already slim title chances.

And while Garcia said his team had not given up hope of fighting for a first scudetto since 2001, the Frenchman admitted on Saturday they will have to get back to winning ways before speaking of the title again.

"There's no point in us talking about top spot until we can string a few wins together again... right now we have to fight to defend second place," Garcia told reporters.

"That's the best way for us to go about keeping our hopes alive. But we have to start by taking three points from Verona tomorrow."

Roma's hopes have not been helped by the fact third-placed Napoli are now only five points behind them.

Coach Rafael Benitez said in midweek he was confident Napoli had the mettle to challenge Roma for second place.

"If we keep our current form up then we have a great chance of achieving that aim," said the Spaniard.

"A lot will depend on Roma and whether they slip up again. If they do, we'll be there ready to capitalise."

Added to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Europa League last 32-tie at home to Feyenoord, confidence in the Roma camp is decidedly low.

But Sunday's opponents Verona are themselves stuck in a rut, with Andrea Mandorlini's men having lost four of their past five outings.

"We have some great players in the squad, they need to believe they can win a game at any time," added Garcia.

"We want the win, especially as we've drawn so much recently. The main thing is to make sure the team, and individual players, don't lose confidence.

"We're going through a rough patch at the moment, but I don't think that's anything out of the ordinary - we'll be much stronger if the players feel like everyone's totally behind them."