Italy can end their November test series on a positive note with victory against Canada in Fontanafredda on Saturday but even a big win will do little to dispel the air of disappointment hanging over the Azzurri after defeats to Australia and Argentina.

The scorelines in those previous matches were not the problem. The 25-18 loss against Australia was Italy's most respectable result against the Wallabies since 1994 while the 23-16 defeat to Argentina was an improvement on the 39-22 drubbing they suffered a year ago.

What was of concern was the manner of the defeats.

Coach Pierre Berbizier - and the majority of their supporters - had hoped to see the Italian team reproduce the flair and energy of their Six Nations performances earlier this year, when they held second-half leads over England, France, Ireland and Wales.

What they saw instead was a step back towards the old forward-dominated game. In the backline, the new-found adventurousness gave way to caution and hesitancy.

Berbizier was especially critical of his players after the Australia match, during which they rarely advanced into the visitors' 22, never looked like going over the line, and kicked for points at every opportunity - a tactic that smacked of desperation and suggested a lack of confidence with the ball in their hands.

They finally showed some spark in the last 10 minutes against Argentina when Andrea Scanavacca's neat reverse pass to release Marko Stanojevic for Italy's try was the best move of the game.

It came too late, however, to stave off defeat, and Italy will have to wait until next season's Six Nations to make the move up to the next level in the evolution of their game.

They can afford to be braver against Canada, who conceded nine tries to Wales in a 61-26 defeat last Friday and lost 51-6 to Italy the last time they met in November 2004.

Berbizier has made six changes to his starting lineup for the game, the most notable being Scanavacca's inclusion in place of regular flyhalf Ramiro Pez, who was poor against Argentina.

Canada coach Ric Suggitt, meanwhile, warned his team's fans not to expect an upset.

"We have improved a great deal since our last game against Italy two years ago," he said.

"Of course we want a better performance but people have to realise that this game on Saturday is against a fully professional team and we'll just have to see what happens."

Teams:

Italy: 15-David Bortolussi; 14-Warren Spragg, 13-Walter Pozzebon, 12-Mirco Bergamasco, 11-Marko Stanojevic; 10-Andrea Scanavacca, 9-Paul Griffen; 8-Sergio Parisse, 7-Mauro Bergamasco, 6-Josh Sole, 5-Marco Bortolami (captain), 4-Santiago Dellape, 3-Carlos Nieto, 2-Fabio Ongaro, 1-Andrea Lo Cicero.

Replacements: 16-Carlo Festuccia, 17-Martin Castrogiovanni, 18-Alessandro Zanni, 19-Maurizio Zaffiri, 20-Simon Picone, 21-Ramiro Pez, 22-Gonzalo Canale.

Canada: 15-Ed Fairhurst; 14-Mike Pyke, 13-Ryan Smith, 12-Derek Daypuck, 11-Justin Mensah-Coker; 10-Ander Monro, 9-Morgan Williams (captain); 8-Aaron Carpenter, 7-Stan McKeen, 6-Mike Webb, 5-Oliver Atkinson, 4-Luke Tait, 3-Forrest Gainer, 2-Pat Riordan, 1-Dan Pletch.

Replacements: 16-Aaron Abrams, 17-Kevin Tkachuk, 18-Mike Pletch, 19-Stu Ault, 20-Adam Kleeberger, 21-Dean Van Camp, 22-DTH Van der Merwe

Referee: Marius Jonker (South Africa)