AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri has refused to take his foot off the pedal ahead of Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League Group C clash against Zenit St Petersburg.
Milan have already qualified for the knockout stages behind leaders Malaga but there is the matter of pride at stake for the Italians, while Zenit know they need a good result to secure their place in the Europa League.
Zenit are third in the group, tied on points with Anderlecht but ahead on goal difference, and need a better result than the Belgian champions who take on Malaga, to ensure their progress.
For Allegri, a home win would finish off the group stages in style following two draws to date against Malaga and Anderlecht, and the Milan coach confirmed he would not change his game plan for the match.
"We must win," Allegri told www.gazzetta.it. "In matches where we had already qualified, AC Milan almost never did well. It is going to be a game in order to extend the streak of results. Winning is good.
"Winning helps to stay calm and we must also prepare for the championship race. It is not a race you need to qualify, but if you do not get a positive result it is only two or three days to reconsider and we do not have that time."
However, Allegri could make some changes with Stephan El Shaarawy one who could be rested, while Mathieu Flamini and Massimo Ambrosini could come into the midfield in place of Nigel de Jong and Riccardo Montolivo.
Zenit are looking for a Europa League place but Italian coach Luciano Spalletti will be without striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov due to a thigh injury while Vladimir Bystrov is suspended after he was shown a red card against Malaga.
Brazil international Hulk looks set to lead the forward line with Aleksandr Bukharov, and should take confidence from last weekend's 4-2 win over Spartak Moscow where he scored the opening goal before being substituted in the second half.
The 27-year-old left-back has been a regular for the Robins this season and has made 23 appearances since signing a two-year deal in the summer.
He is now recovering from the operation although no timescale has yet been announced for the defender's return.
The Scotland international, who began his career with Blackburn, spent an nine-game spell with Paolo Di Canio's men at the end of last season on loan from Barnsley.
He was part of the Robins' team promoted to League One before moving south on a permanent basis in June.
Mellon was dismissed following the Cod Army's 3-2 defeat to Aldershot in the FA Cup second round - a third consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Yet, with Fleetwood sitting seventh in League Two thanks to the guidance of a man who led them to two promotions in three seasons, Pilley's decision has been widely derided.
He told the Blackpool Gazette: "I have a lot of respect for Micky Mellon. I don't want to go into too much detail on precisely what happened and why - at the moment things are just too raw.
"Suffice to say we felt it was the right time for a change. We had lost our way a little and we needed a change of leadership.
"It is a decision based just upon the way the football club has performed recently. The decision had to be in the best interests of the football club and that is what we have done.
"People will read into it what they will. There were numerous factors we had to take into account but the fact was that a change was needed."
Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Pilley remained ambivalent on the reasons for Mellon being shown the door.
"Ultimately I've got to stand up and be counted and that's the decision I've made," he said. "There are things that go on in businesses that influence decisions and we felt that the time was right.
"He has undoubtedly been a superb manager for Fleetwood over the last four years he's been here. We've gone from being a part-time club at the bottom of the Conference North to a full-time club in the play-offs in League Two, but it's not about the past, it's about the present and the future."
