Antonio Conte wants to see ‘enthusiasm and desire’ against SPAL on Thursday, to help Inter secure ‘three important points’ in a congested top-four battle.
Inter bounced back with a 3-1 win against Torino last time and sit two points behind second-placed Atalanta with one game in hand.
With Lazio and Inter on 68 points so far, Conte stressed that his players must continue to give everything to win in Ferrara tomorrow.
“Absolutely. We must arrive with the same enthusiasm and desire that we have been showing, doing our best, and try to get the three points that would be very important.”
Inter sit eight points behind Juventus but have picked up the most points after 32 games since 2008-09, have 18 different goalscorers, and match the Old Lady on only four defeats all season.
“These are numbers that testify the excellent things this team are doing. They must stimulate us to continue like this and do even better going forward.”
But Conte is wary of the possible pitfalls ahead of the match against SPAL, who sit rock-bottom in Serie A.
“The pitfalls are those of facing the match without the right determination and focus from the off. We face a team that has a poor position in the table, but let’s not forget that they will have great motivation because they play Inter.
“We must pay close attention and our attitude will count a lot.”
The Nerazzurri are playing their ninth match in just over a month and Conte has thanked his staff for helping him with the preparation.
“It’s a big task, for which I have to thank all my staff who prepare the videos on the opponents and beyond.
“We need great collaboration and a quality staff, which, luckily, is what I have.”
Conte confirmed that Victor Moses will be back against the Biancazzurri tomorrow and revealed that Nicolò Barella could return against Roma.
“Moses is available, Barella has started training with the ball and we hope to have him back against Roma,” Conte explained. “[Stefano] Sensi is healing, [Romelu] Lukaku is getting rid of the contracture and we hope to have him back as soon as possible.
“[Matias] Vecino still struggles with his knee and I can’t give any information on that.”
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SPAL coach Luigi Di Biagio, who was the Italy Under-21 coach during Conte’s spell at the helm of the Azzurri, is under pressure in Ferrara and the Inter tactician thinks he will learn from the difficulties.
“We are talking about a very serious and prepared man, who knows what he wants. He found a rather delicate situation, but I have also been through these experiences and he did the right thing.”