Richards also reserved words of praise for Jean-Philippe Mateta, who – after making his first start since January against Fiorentina – opened the scoring versus the Serie A side, and followed it up three days later with both late goals against Newcastle.
He observed: “I think everybody sees JP as a character, not just on the field but off the field. When he has a light energy like that, it helps the people around him. Today, when he came on, he made a big difference.
“He was physical, he was making runs, just getting stuck in. Again, he was rewarded with two goals, so we were all happy for him.
“It's been a tough few months for him, but we embraced him like family. Again, we're just happy that he got on the scoresheet again.”
As for the return trip to Florence, Richards added: “We expect some tough games ahead, regardless of who we're playing.
“We won the first leg 3-0, and we know the second leg is going to be a tough one. They have a lot to play for, and again, for the rest of the season, we also have a lot to play for.
“I'm just going to go 100% every game and hopefully come out with a lot more wins than anything else.”