Stefano Pioli held a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Serie A fixture away in Turin against Torino at the Stadio Olimpico, with kick-off scheduled for 18.00 CET. Below SempreInter.com report the press conference in its entirety in English.

Have you found the ideal system mentally and tactically?

“We’re going through a positive period, I feel it, we’re working to continue down that path. With regards to the system we use what matters is the interpretation, the will, the intensity and I’ve seen these things inserted during the week in how we work, it’s great.”

Playing with Ever Banega was liek playing with an extra man…

“Every one knows that Ever is a quality player who permits us to find spaces that make us much more efficient, he’s been working very hard with a great stubbornness and openness. Not just him, but everyone wants to be determined when going into the next fixture.”

How difficult would it be to explain to Banega that he can’t play?

“I never explain my choices, the players know I make my choices with the best interest of the team in mind. Everyone is feeling well and are available an willing to give a hand which makes my decisions easier but also makes them difficult at the same time. We’re a few days away, we’ll see what we’ll do for Saturday’s match against a solid Torino who have only lost once this season, against Juventus.”

Would you agree that Torino resembles Inter from an offensive aspect?

“They’ve scored a lot of goals, especially at home, they have quality players and a coach who knows how to stimulate his players and to be held in high regard. In terms of individual players they have great quality players and we need to pay attention.”

What are your thoughts on playing the derby with a 12.30 kick-off?

“I understand the issue about the derby, it’s very important. We haven’t played many times during the day at San Siro but i enjoy playing during the day especially when the stadium is full and so there’s a lot of enthusiasm. Then this match is a world class event so this way more fans across the world can watch it.”

The fans have expressed themselves in your favor, what effect does this have?

“It made me very excited, it can only make me more attentive and concentrate more on the jog that we all have to do together. What we’ve done until now makes no sense if we cant maintain some continuity. It applies to all our coming games, the will to act like a team in all matches.”

Is Champions League qualification still the objective?

“We don’t have to think about the derby or the Napoli match but we have to think about one match at a time. We only have one thing on our minds and that’s winning.”

What do you look for when making the choices when selecting midfielders and attacking players?

“It depends on how I interpret the situation and the solutions that we want in both phases on Saturday. I will choose the players that have the characteristics that suit the best.”

Yesterday Piero Ausilio watched Monaco vs Manchester City on location, which player impressed you the most?

“Ausilio is lucky, he gets to travel a lot. I watched the game at home, I like to do this because these matches are always merry occasions.”

Have you ever received so much praise from your own players before?

“I always look to be myself in my job and in my relationships with others. I’ve always received some praise but when you are yourself obviously everyone wont like you. The important thing is to work in a professional manner, believe in what you do and transmit the values that you believe in. From the first day I arrived I found an intelligent group with great values, not just from a technical point of view. We’re working with a great understanding.”

Do you consider Brozovic to be a trequartista or a more deeplying midfielder?

“I think he’s a complete player, great players don’t have fixed positions. We think that there are spaces that need to be occupied and the smarter our players are the more productive we can become. I maintain that Brozovic is a complete midfielder because he possesses these qualities.”

How many points do you think you’ll need in order to qualify for the Champions League?

“We have looked at last seasons standings and the point tally required then was 80. But given how the teams above us are playing that tally could rise, it’s inevitable to understand that we need to do something exceptional to reach this tally but this can only be done if we believe in ourselves. This is the right mentality needed to continue, now we’re only focused on Torino and on the possibility to bring home another 3 points.”

Does Suning’s ambitious goals worry you in terms of your position at the club? Do you feel that you can grow together with the club?

“I’m concentrated on the present, working well this year in order to create a solid base to achieve great results now and also in the future.”

Who do you think will have scored more goals out of Mauro Icardi and Andrea Belotti at the end of the season?

“Icardi, he is very strong. Belotti is very good but Mauro has the ability to become the Serie A top scorer yet again. This is very important for us, we expect a lot fo goals from him but he’s always decisive for us as he works hard for the team.”

Will it be a match within the match on Saturday between Icardi and Belotti?

“Mauro works hard for the team, then a striker knows that scoring goals is important but the first consideration and thought is always dedicated to the team’s result.”

If the season ends badly despite these great averages, will there be a lot of regret?

“We will make these evaluations only on May 28th, if we continue to travel in this way we will achieve an important result. But there are still 10 matches remaining, we don’t have many easy matches left but at the same time it gives us the possibility to have direct decisive encounters that can count for much. It all passes through every single match. We’ve had a great week, we’ve worked well by being very attentive, we know what we want from our next match.”