Torino are well-placed to secure a top-10 finish in the Serie A as they currently lie seventh in the standings, level with Parma on 33 points.

Torino began the 2013/14 Serie A harbouring aspirations of retaining their top-flight status for a second successive season.

Early in the campaign, the Granata dropped points after failing to kill off their opponents but they gradually started to click and managed to move clear of the bottom places.

Coach Giampiero Ventura must be pleased with the efforts of his team who have been in fine form since November.

During this period, Torino have managed six wins and drew three in the last three months with their only defeats coming against Parma (1-3) on the 18th day and against Bologna (1-2) on Sunday.

Ventura seems to have revived the careers of players who struggled to make an impact with more-quoted sides, namely strikers Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile and defender Matteo Darmian.

Cerci, a Roma youth product, failed to secure regular first-team football at Roma and Fiorentina.

Last season, the 26-year-old linked up with Ventura, the coach who had launched his career in the Serie B in season 2007/08 (10 goals in 26 appearances for Pisa), and was an instant hit.

It is no surprise that winger-cum-striker Cerci has become a regular player for Italy under coach Cesare Prandelli.

Immobile enjoyed a brilliant season at Pescara, then under Zdenek Zeman, a couple of years ago.

The Italian striker, who came through the youth ranks of Juventus, finished as the Serie B’s top marksman with 28 goals in 37 appearances for Pescara in season 2011/12.

Last season, Immobile, who is co-owned by Juventus and Torino, hit only five goals in 34 games for struggling Genoa and was immediately branded as a striker who can’t make the grade in the Serie A.

That perception has changed this season as Immobile is defying the odds, netting 12 goals in 20 appearances, and has a good chance of being included in Prandelli’s 23-man squad for next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

Darmian has gone from strength to strength since signing for Torino from Palermo, on a season-long loan in July 2011.

Darmian has not only become a mainstay at Torino but is reportedly attracting the interest of big guns Milan, ironically the club where he started his career, and Roma.

Another player who has made a massive improvement during his stint with the Maroons was Danilo D’Ambrosio.

Torino had acquired the versatile defender from unknown Juve Stabia in January 2010 and, in the space of three years, D’Ambrosio not only became a regular starter but also caught the attention of big clubs including Inter, Milan and Roma.

D’Ambrosio, who was reluctant to extend his contract with Torino, signed for Inter last month in a cash-plus-player deal.

There are other Torino players who have come by leaps and bounds in recent months. Goalkeeper Daniele Padelli was a reliable understudy at his previous clubs. In his first outings for Torino, Padelli was shaky, to say the least.

But Ventura has kept faith in him and Padelli has recently produced some five-star performances. As the season enters the final stages, Padelli has definitely proved an adequate replacement for Jean Francois Gillet, currently serving a one-year ban for match-fixing.

Defenders Nikola Maksimovic, Emiliano Moretti and team captain Kamil Glik form a solid three-man defence.

In midfield, veteran Giuseppe Vives is perhaps enjoying one of his best seasons. New signings Jasmin Kurtic, Marko Vesovic and Panagiotis Tachtsidis will increase Ventura’s options in midfield.

Torino have collected 33 points and, with 15 games left, they are almost home and dry.

But it would be a pity if Torino were to limit their ambitions to just avoiding relegation from Serie A and not eye further improvement.

Torino’s next target should be a top-ten finish.

If this were to materialise, it would be Torino’s best achievement in the last two decades.