Roma coach Paulo Fonseca admitted relief after their victory over Gent.

Roma won 1-0 thanks to Carles Perez in the first-leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie.

“It was not a quality performance by any means, but this is a difficult moment, the team fought hard and did everything they could to turn the situation around," Fonseca told Sky Sport Italia.

“Gent are a strong side, we didn't play well, but the important things tonight were to keep a clean sheet and get the victory."

It was their first victory in a month, having managed one draw from their last five competitive matches.

“We can't run many risks at the moment, as when the confidence is so low, we need to be more practical. The passing lines now are not what they were a month ago.

“I think the players are trying their best and it was very important that we win this evening. If we don't defend well, we can't attack well. I always think the best form of defence is to have the ball, as we don't need to defend if we're in possession, but to do that, we need players with confidence who want the ball at their feet. At this moment in time, that is not the situation.

“I want to keep the ball not for the sake of it, but to find passing channels going forward. Today, I think the team opted not to run any risks, so made the safe sideways pass rather than going forward. This maintained the ball, we played a lot with Pau Lopez getting involved and we shouldn't have so many back-passes."