Claudio Ranieri admits Cagliari's players have stopped him resigning.

The veteran was planning to resign last week, only for his players to convince him to carry on.

Ahead of Sunday's clash with Udinese, Ranieri said: "I spoke to the team, an electric shock was needed. I said I would resign, but the team opposed it. We would all have had to fight, and I said 'okay, let's all fight to complete this mission'.

"After all the boys have asked to go on ritiro and today, in fact, they will stay here.

"I feel good. I think that few people would have had the support of their players after Sunday's match. I was really down, but they cheered me up, they told me that we would have to fight together.

"(Udinese will be) very difficult. They beat a great team (Juventus). We will try to do our best to bring home a positive result."