Sinisa Mihajlovic has set AC Milan a target of two points per match between now and Christmas as they seek to climb the Serie A table.

Milan lie seventh after an inconsistent start to the season but host Sampdoria at San Siro on Saturday looking to rebound from last weekend's 1-0 defeat at defending champions Juventus.

Despite that setback, Mihajlovic has been encouraged by his team's recent results and is looking for them to maintain their momentum against his former club.

He said at Friday's media conference: "We changed a few things after the Napoli game [a 4-0 home loss in early October] and we have started to average two points per match.

"I am sure we will be able to maintain that in the coming matches. We have all the qualities to keep that average up until the end of the first part of the season.

"We made a slow start to the season, but most of the matches against rivals, with the exception of the Napoli match, were away from home. With this in mind, I think in the second part of the season there is reason to believe that we can do better."

Mihajlovic has not been helped by his players suffering a number of injuries, most notably Andrea Bertolacci and striker Mario Balotelli.

"Bertolacci was a big investment but we haven't had him available much because of injuries," added the Serbian. "Balotelli is another key player that has been out too. I hope I can have Balo back before Christmas. He, like Bertolacci, is a player that gives us other options in attack.

"Regardless of the formation, we always field four or five attacking players. At times, we've been able to get the best out of our attacking potential and at times not, but we should always adopt an attacking approach."

Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo also thinks Milan are on the right path.

He said: "The team has made steady improvements and we're stronger than we were one month ago. Our aim is to keep improving steadily without any setbacks. I believe this team does have personality, but perhaps in some matches we haven't shown that.

"Against Juve we weren't able to carry out what we had worked on and we should have tried to do more. We have gone a goal down in some matches, and we have immediately reacted, but lady luck hasn't been on our side."