AC Milan face Juventus six points behind their unbeaten opponents in the Serie A standings and while they have great respect for their rivals, fear is not a factor, manager Paulo Fonseca said on Friday.

Milan have played one game less than Thiago Motta’s side, but three defeats have left them in seventh place and playing catch-up, with Juve one place ahead.

“It’s not decisive, but it’s important, like all of them,” Fonseca told reporters ahead of Saturday’s match.

“I can’t say the game against Juve is more important than the next one against Empoli because we need back-to-back wins.

“It’s a different game, but I always think positive. We are Milan, we have a lot of respect for the ‘Bianconeri’, but we are not afraid. We are here ready to win.”

Juventus are missing top scorer Dusan Vlahovic for this match, but Fonseca knows the dangers of his potential replacement Timothy Weah, having coached him in France with Lille.

“Juve knows how to adapt very well. I don’t know if Weah will play,” said Fonseca.

“Weah is very fast and attacks deep, not like Vlahovic. Of course it won’t be the same.

“We will have to pay attention to movements in depth and less to supporting work, because he is a player who does this work less.”

Although results in his first season at Milan did not always go Fonseca’s way, they did achieve big wins when it mattered, against rivals Inter Milan in the league and more recently against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

“I believe it is a matter of motivation and not pressure,” Fonseca said.

“Against Inter, Juve and Real it is easy to be motivated, it is more difficult to go to Cagliari and have the same motivation.

“Pressure is always with us, every day. If we don’t want pressure, we shouldn’t be here.”

Juventus go into the match as the only unbeaten side in Serie A, but sit sixth in the standings in what has been a very tight title race so far, with just two points separating Motta’s side from league leaders Napoli.

“It’s very balanced and this is good for both us and the public,” Motta said.

“We must all try to continue in this way. We must try to achieve as many positive results as possible.”