Italy boss Nick Mallett is hoping that his side can pick up a result at Murrayfield © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Nick Mallett

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: Italy

Italy boss Nick Mallett is keen for his side to repay the faith shown in them by their fans by taking home the points against Scotland on Saturday.

Having been booed from the field following their 38-9 loss to Ireland at the Stadio Flaminio in their last Six Nations game, Mallett is keen to give the many Italian fans who have made the trip to Edinburgh something to smile about.

"I am happy that there will be that many Italian fans at the stadium," he said. "That is fantastic. I was disappointed that my players were booed during the game against Ireland because my team always plays with heart. We do have, however, the best fans in the world. Before they booed, they were supporting the team."

Mallett understands the fans' disappointment after his side shipped 74 points in their opening two games.

"It's normal that the fans are disappointed," he said. "I don't criticise them, I just hope we are able to do better for them. We want to win in Scotland for them."

Italy are chasing a hat-trick of Six Nations wins over Scotland, but if they are to achieve the feat then Mallett believes they will need to play with more intelligence than they did against Ireland. Fullback Andrea Masi was banned following his high-tackle on Rob Kearney, prop Salavtore Perugini was also yellow carded and Martin Castrogiovanni became involved in a debate with the referee.

"Against Ireland we had 18 fouls against when our average is 10," said Mallett. "We simply lacked intelligence and this cannot be tolerated. Andrea made a stupid mistake. To make a high tackle seconds after the start of the game is unacceptable. I am also not happy with Castrogiovanni´s behaviour towards the referee. For me both these things were wasted energy lost by unimportant things.

"Against Scotland I expect lucidity and discipline on the pitch from my players, we had that in last year's tournament but we haven't shown it so far."

Scotland are equally wary of Italy's ability to bring a damaging physicality to the game, with flanker Alasdair Strokosch cautious of being drawn into a fractious battle that could swing the game in the Italians' favour.

"That's the danger, isn't it? But there's nobody else who can make sure we don't except us out on the pitch," he said. "So it's really down to us to hold our discipline and do what we've been told to do. You do everything legally but just as hard as you can. If you're hitting a ruck or making a tackle or carrying the ball, just go as hard as you can. But don't start kicking people or poking them in the eye."

Strokosch is under no illusions as to how hard it will be against Italy, remembering how equal games between the two sides have been down the years.

"If you look at our record against Italy, it's pretty even, I think," he said. "We've never gone out there and put 50 points on Italy so it's really disrespectful for us to think we've got a right to go out there and win. It's going to be just as hard a game as any other."