With their visitors from Sicily already doomed to Serie B football, Parma are among those clubs determined to avoid the third and final relegation berth.

A run that saw Claudio Ranieri's men take 16 points from a possible 21 looked to have all but ensured Parma's top-flight status but last weekend's 1-0 defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Chievo has seen the club lose momentum.

Now the Gialloblu are only one point above the relegation zone and need to return to winning ways immediately.

The club's Senegalese defender Ferdinand Coly is adamant that Messina will not be pushovers even though the Sicilians are already relegated.

"I know the game against Messina will not be an easy one," Coly told club website www.fcparma.it. "When a club gets relegated, the players for that club have an extra incentive to make a name for themselves.

"They have nothing to lose in giving their all and that makes things complicated.

"But we must only think about our own game and must take a leaf out of Chievo's book and play the way they did last week. Chievo had a great mental approach and they were aggressive.

"When you have to play at home you must dictate the game to prevent the opponents from gaining in confidence because if that happens it starts to become difficult."

Goalkeeper Luca Bucci tried to rally the Parma troops with his own words of wisdom.

"There's a substantial difference between the mentality that says 'we must not lose' and the one that says 'win at all costs'.

"They are both positive attitudes but it's the first one that is best applicable to a team in a position like ours."

Cardone and Vitali Kutuzov is likely to miss out for Parma but Ranieri can call on Igor Budan.

Bruno Bolchi's Messina have only pride to play for ahead of Sunday's trip to the Stadio Ennio Tardini after only escaping relegation last season after Juventus were relegated for match-fixing.

Goalkeepr Nicholas Caglioni is suspended and Bolchi admits it is impossible to plan for next season with dispute over ownership of the club and reports that the Franza family want to sell the outfit.

"Everything depends on the decisions taken by the club," said Bolchi. "We have to see if Franza really wants to sell or not."

The long goodbye begins for Messina on Sunday in Parma but even if they win their last three games their fate is already sealed.

Whether they visit Parma again next season, albeit in Serie B, remains to be seen.