"The worst thing today was the result, but there were a lot of positives with players showing passion, character and quality on the pitch. Aquilani was one of these players," the boss told reporters after the game.
"He showed the ability he has. He needs to improve his match fitness, but you could see that he can pass the ball and can make a big difference in the final third.
"He is getting closer every day, but he needs games to improve his match fitness. It's a question of time.
"He will be an important player because he has quality. We want to push him, but we know we cannot push too hard. We need to keep working with him and try to get more minutes out of him in each game."