Petkovic's men are also within 90 minutes of booking
a place in the Coppa Italia final at the expense of Juventus, ahead of a
two-legged encounter with Borussia Monchengladbach in the Europa
League.
Lazio have claimed eight wins from 10 in the league to
stay within five points of Juve and Petkovic is targeting a sustained
challenge on first place.
Lazio head coach Vladimir Petkovic believes the capital club are
enjoying a period of success not seen at the Stadio Olimpico in over a
decade.
The Biancocelesti are chasing Juventus hard to claim their
first Serie A title since 2000 and, if they avoid defeat to Chievo
tomorrow, they will have come through 17 games unbeaten in all
competitions.
Chievo's
form has been characteristically inconsistent this term but Petkovic
has been impressed by the impact Eugenio Corini has made at the Stadio
Marc'Antonio Bentegodi.
He added: ``We will look to dominate, as
always, and we will need to beat an opponent who have picked up a lot of
points since changing their coach.
``Are Lazio at the beginning of a successful cycle? We're already on one,'' he told Gazzetta.it.
``Cycles can be short or long, it depends on a lot of things. We are all trying to stay at this high level.
``We saw how much we had grown and improved during the game against Juventus.
``I
watched the game again. We dominated the first half, struggled a bit in
the second but with a bit of luck we managed to bring a result home.
``We
are all working hard as individuals to improve further. The cup game
proved we are competitive and can always claim a positive result.
``Now against Chievo we have to demonstrate that we can win every match.''
``They close ranks very quickly and they certainly put you in a lot of bother on the counter-attack.''
Former
Sunderland midfielder Lorik Cana serves a one-match ban while Miroslav
Klose, Ederson and Marius Stankevicius look set to miss out through
injury.
Boukary Drame, Luciano and Perparim Hetemaj will be unable
to help the Chievo cause due to injury, with Corini set to hand Luca
Rigoni and Roberto Guana late fitness tests.
The Gialloblu have added Genoa midfielder Felipe Seymour to the squad, though, with the Chilean saying: ``I'm happy and relaxed.
``I've joined a new team that has plenty of ambition and I'm ready to help them reach their targets.''
Chievo
have not beaten Lazio since March 2009, when they won 3-0 in the
Italian capital, with the Biancocelesti winning four of the subsequent
seven meetings.
