Antonio Conte has praised his Inter team for the personality that they showed in the second half to see through their 1-0 win at home to Lazio.

“In the first half we started off aggressively and they were looking to hit us on the counter. They put us in some difficulty but Samir Handanovic made some big saves,” he told Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia.

“In the second half, we played with personality and deserved the victory as we had more chances than they did. This is a very meaningful victory against a very strong team who have been working together for four years under Simone Inzaghi, who is an excellent manager.

“We had to double down to see the game out but congratulations are in order for us as we won a very difficult match.

He was then quick to dismiss the notion that having the best defensive record will mean winning the title.

“Whether you want to talk about us winning Scudetto or not doesn’t bother me one iota, you saw the difficulties we had in the first half.”

Next he was asked if he was expecting any setbacks in the league with the victory extending Inter’s winning streak to five games to start the campaign: “Not yet but as soon as a bad result comes along there will be.”

He concluded: “This was a very difficult victory, one we obtained with great commitment and after suffering for the first time. When you suffer, there is a risks attached to that but instead in the second half we showed great personality.”