Empoli head coach Aurelio Andreazzoli has urged his side to look for “continuity” ahead of a tough test against Napoli on Sunday.

Napoli are currently fourth in Serie A following a mixed start to the season, but they closed the gap on the top with a 2-0 win against Salernitana last weekend.

The reigning champions could leapfrog AC Milan into third in the table with a win against Empoli, but Andreazzoli wants his side to “move forward” for their upcoming fixtures.

“Napoli are extremely strong, but for us this doesn’t change the picture of what we have to do,” he told reporters.

“Frosinone also proved to be a tough opponent, which is why we need to focus on ourselves. There is time to grow but we have to move forward, for us it is a necessity.

“What Naples do I expect? I can’t know, (Rudi) Garcia is another friend of mine who I worked with, an excellent and scrupulous person. There was no coach who could replace Spalletti and do better than what Luciano did.”

Empoli are second from bottom in the table having only won two of their 11 league games so far this season and although they face a tough visit to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Andreazzoli hopes they can seek “continuity” in their performances.

He added: “We have to look for continuity, in the last match we played the game we wanted but our opponents were better.

“But we played a good game, because if we had gone ahead by two goals in the first half there would have been nothing to say.

“We had a blackout for part of the game which is inconceivable for what our team has in mind. We must always be proactive, even risking something.

“Tomorrow’s race is excellent in this sense, we can’t wait to compete with those who are better to understand who we are.”