AS Roma coach Daniele De Rossi defended his players’ decision not to continue their Serie A match at Udinese on Sunday.

After Ivory Coast central defender Evan Ndicka fell backwards onto the pitch eighteen minutes into the game and had to be taken off on a stretcher, the players stopped playing.

Speaking ahead of Thursday Europa League game against AC Milan De Rossi Confirmed that the player was okay now.

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“First and foremost he’s okay, which is the most important thing.

“He’s as good as a lad who’s just suffered a collapsed lung can be.

” It’s an ordeal, it’s painful, but it’s not as scary as we’d imagined it to be in the heat of the moment.”

Following a protracted delay, the match on Sunday was abandoned when the players fled the pitch and the match was suspended.

“We received a lot of praise for something that we deemed to be a standard course of action.

” I hope that any coach would’ve acted as I did,” De Rossi said.

“Any player faced with the prospect of having to continue a match would have tensed up, knowing their team mate had suffered such an injury or, as the guy with the electrocardiogram had told us, that Evan was in the process of suffering a heart attack.”

Ndicka was released from the hospital on Monday after spending the night there and having additional testing rule out a cardiac problem.

“When such a situation is up in the air — out of respect for your fellow professionals, everyone involved, and the paying public — it’s not about setting an example, it’s about doing what’s right.

“We all agreed on this,” De Rossi added.

“None of the players wished to proceed with the match, and it wasn’t my call to abandon the fixture, as has been written.

“ It was a collective decision, backed by the club.

“It’s nice to be reminded of what a family we are in such moments, not just when we win matches.”

The date when the remainder of Roma’s match against Udinese could be played has not yet been decided.

“We know there are various options, different dates – although not that many, to be honest,” De Rossi said.

Roma, currently in fifth place, will host Bologna, currently in fourth place, on Monday. In the ensuing weeks, they will play champions Napoli, Juventus, and Atalanta.