ROME (AFP) - Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri insisted Saturday that his team were still aiming at snatching second place in Serie A ahead of Sunday's visit of struggling Parma.

Juve breathed new life into the title race a week ago by winning 2-1 at the San Siro to put a dent in Inter Milan's Serie A charge and allow AS Roma to close the gap between the top two to just four points.

But despite giving Roma a helping hand in their title quest, third-placed Juve are still hoping to close the six-point deficit they have to capital-based team and take second place, and with it direct entry into next season's Champions League group stages.

But Ranieri is wary about the trouble his side has already had against lowly opposition this season.

"We always look forward," said Ranieri. "We played a great game at the San Siro and we have to continue in this vein and with the same desire.

"It's not important who we're playing against, only the three points count.

"Against teams that play defensively we've had many problems and the Emilians (Parma in in the Emilia-Romagna region) are a lively outfit who don't deserve to be where they are in the table."

Parma are only one point above the relegation zone and Argentine coach Hector Cuper has injury problems ahead of the match.

Striker Cristiano Lucarelli is suspended while Ferdinand Coly, Domenico Morfeo, Francesco Parravicini and Andrea Pisanu are all injured, while Croatian Igor Budan was a doubt.

"I'm not saying that the squad is going backwards because we have several players unavailable but the problems are certainly there," said Cuper.

"On top of that Budan came back from national team duty with a bad knock, although he'll make it."

And while Juve are trying to claim second spot in the table, Cuper says Parma's bid to avoid the dreaded drop is a bigger motivation.

"The black-and-whites had a great match against Inter and they're closing in on second place but our motivation is even bigger than theirs," added the former Inter and Valencia boss.

"I believe in my team. However, the lads need to expect a great Juve team because that will help them play with the right tension."