Udinese coach Luigi Del Neri admits his job was in doubt before victory over Sampdoria.

The Zebrette won 4-0 on Saturday.

“My dismissal was almost certain, not just possible," Del Neri told Sky Sport Italia.

“We needed the strength to get on our feet and shrug off the idea of my goodbye to this club. It was a very important match and consequently very tense, not to mention against a strong opponent.

“We keep my project with Udinese going. It was almost going to take time, as we had many new players only arrive at the end of August and they all came from different styles of football.

“Not the team has understood what I am looking for. We've made a small step towards becoming a real team. I helped Valon Behrami shore up the midfield by introducing Antonin Barak for physicality, then Seko Fofana was really eager and his running broke their lines.

“I think the training retreat was the right decision, because the players were fired up and concentrated."