Inter’s Slovakian international central defender Milan Skriniar gave an exclusive interview to ESPN FC ahead of Sunday’s Serie A clash against cross town rivals AC Milan.
The former Sampdoria player was asked about the danger Rossoneri striker Gonzalo Higuain will pose to which he repleid: “It’s important that he doesn’t score, but it’s not just him, also their other attackers. He’s a great striker, maybe one of the best in Italy, but if he doesn’t score and somebody else does, it’s still the same. So we’ve got to try not to concede, to score a goal or two and win this game.”
Skriniar then went on to look back his previous encounters against the Rossoneri stating that: “It’s important that I’ve not yet lost to Milan in a derby. The first derby was amazing, we won 3-2, with a goal in the 95th minute from Mauro to complete his hat trick. It was great for us and great for our fans.”
“The second time was 0-0 but this is the third in Serie A and I hope to win it. We need to prove that we are better, and we’ve got to give everything. We are convinced that we are stronger than we were last year, but we’ll see on the field that’s where we will see who is best.”
The Nerazzurri defender was asked the impact this derby will have on the Serie A standings stating that: “I’m not interested in them, we are interested in Inter and where we finish. We want to finish in the top four and we don’t care where they finish. We need to carry on this winning streak that we have of six games. We want to finish as high as we can, definitely in the top four, but I think we can get even higher. We’ve got to take it bit by bit, game by game, point by point, so we’ll see.”
In conclusion Skriniar was asked about the controversy he was involved in with the Slovakian national team which led to the resignation of coach Jan Kozak to which he replied: “As soon as we got back from the international break, we started concentrating on the derby. We’re all back together now; all united. We’re focused and working hard on winning the derby. It’s important to keep on winning. What happened with our national teams stays with the national teams, because the national team is one thing and Inter is another.”
