Zenit v Basle preview

Zenit St Petersburg coach Luciano Spalletti has dismissed questions about his future at the club after a recent dip in form.

The big-spending Russian side have lost three successive matches for the first time under the Italian and head into Thursday's Europa League last-16 second-leg tie (kick-off 5pm GMT) against FC Basle trailing 2-0.

With Zenit third in their domestic league, eight points behind leaders CSKA Moscow, the pressure is beginning to mount on Spalletti.

"If Zenit starts to question my role and my position and searches for someone else, I'll be the first person to be upset about it," he said.

"At the same time, we all understand that Zenit is a big and strong team which needs to get results.

"If we don't get the results then it's totally normal that me and my role will be in doubt.

"The only thing that I can say for sure is that I won't resign because I know that we can fix the situation and that this team can win - so I'm definitely not going to resign."

Zenit have won all six of their home games by two-goal margins in the competition proper since the advent of the Europa League and that gives Spalletti hope for Thursday.

"Of course the sooner we score the first goal, the better," he added.

"But we can't forget one important thing. In the situation we're in, there's a risk that we'll attack with all our force but then unfold at the back and lose balance in defence.

"We need to be careful and not play too far up, since this can create problems.

"We can score two goals because we've already done so against very strong teams.

"For us the most important thing is not to give up a counter-attack and let our opponents score on us."

Basle's preparations were disrupted when illness to midfielder Mohamed Elneny forced an unscheduled stopover in Berlin.

The 20-year-old Egyptian complained of feeling unwell on the flight to Russia and the squad were re-routed to enable him to receive medical attention.

However, the player was deemed fit enough to continue the journey and after taking part in training in Russia is eligible for the match on Thursday.