The Rossaneri side, who sit 10th in Serie A with 16 points, suffered a 5-3 defeat at Inter Milan two weeks ago, but looked sharp in claiming a point against Genoa last weekend.

Simplicio, while mindful of Bologna, feels it is a game his side should win.

"We go into the game on the back of a defeat and a goalless draw against two teams of high level," said Simplicio.

"But we are going through a positive spell and it's necessary for us to remain in the top half of the standings."

The Sicilian outfit are unbeaten at La Favorita so far this season but have struggled to make much of an impact on the road.

They have taken just four points from a possible 15 on their travels.

Simplicio knows that if his side are to have a chance of finishing in the top six this campaign, they need to start earning points away from home.

"We want to recover some of the points dropped on the road," said Simplicio.

"We are missing something to be able to take that leap in quality, especially on the road.

"Against Bologna we hope to take an important victory."

Bologna know that anything other than a win over Palermo could see them fall to the drop zone this weekend.

Franco Colomba's side lost 2-1 at Roma in the last round and dropped to just outside the relegation places, level on nine points with third-from-bottom Livorno.

Rossoblu striker Marco Di Vaio admitted his team wasted a good chance to claim three points against the Romans.

Martins Adailton had given Bologna a 32nd minute lead but Mirko Vucinic equalised shortly after before Simone Perrotta then struck the winner in the 53rd minute to hand Roma all three points.

"We should have punished Roma but we didn't," said Di Vaio.

"It's a pity that we missed several chances to score in the second half because we allowed Roma to escape unharmed."

Bologna midfielder Roberto Guana knows his side will face a stern test on Sunday.

Guana joined the Rossoblu this summer after spending three seasons at Palermo.

"It's going to be a difficult game," he said. "We need to improve our position in the standings and we must take some points on Sunday.

"I know Palermo well and they are deadly on the counter-attack.

"They have great strikers like Fabrizio Miccoli and Edison Cavani, that will make life difficult for our defenders.

"We cannot afford to give them any space and we will have to be focused from start to finish."

The Rossoblu have been boosted by the arrival of Ghana midfielder Stephan Appiah this week and he could make his debut.

Bologna's injury absentees include Massimo Mutarelli and defender Rafael Santos.

Palermo are still without injured Rubinho, Fabio Liverani, Levan Mchedlidze, Federico Balzaretti and Igor Budan.