Julio Baptista is convinced Roma can finish inside the top four after his brace saw off Sampdoria 2-0 last night.

"I believe our season has begun a new phase with this result. We have to close up on the leading pack as quickly as possible," said the Brazilian.

"It depends on us, but we can and must reach fourth place."

With this victory the Giallorossi climb to eighth position, just six points adrift of Napoli in fourth.

"I think the important thing is always to help the team. It was a great night for us and we needed the three points."

Baptista was used as a centre-forward in the absence of the injured Francesco Totti and Vincenzo Montella, plus suspended Mirko Vucinic.

He opened the scoring by curling in one of his trademark free kicks at the near post.

"The secret is to always train with the free kicks for 15-20 minutes at the end of each session. As for the change in position, I tried to do as best I could what the Coach asked of me."