Inter coach Antonio Conte spoke to the gathered reporters in the official post match press conference last night, shortly after the Nerazzurri’s important 2-0 win in the Serie A over Udinese with FcInterNews in attendance.

“Handanovic’s health? Better talk to the doctors. Let’s see, there are seven days for him to recover, there’s still time before the derby.

“Congratulations to Padelli who was ready, he’s a good guy as well as a great goalkeeper and I’m very happy for him. The squad is built with great care, with technical and moral qualities. The fact that we played with Bastoni and Esposito, two youngsters, makes you understand many things.”

The 50-year-old Italian coach then discussed the reinforcements that arrived last month in the transfer window.

“In the January market, the focus was on trying to improve certain features in certain roles. We had to do this, put some on the sidelines.

“Moses and Young are two players I knew very well. We managed to do two very good deals, raising the rate of experience and quality.”

Finally, the former Juventus and Chelsea coach spoke about Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen and his performances so far for the Nerazzurri after the 27-year-old arrived from Tottenham last week.

“The idea is this, to give him tasks that he hasn’t fully learnt yet. I had to force his insertion a little bit because, like the game against Fiorentina, we had absences.

“I made him play from the start, since Brozovic wasn’t 100%. He is playing in a new system, with a different idea of football than at Tottenham. He’s a player who has quality, experience. He’s used to the English league, which is a tough one.”

The Nerazzurri are now second in the league table after 22 games, three points behind rivals and league leaders Juventus. The Bianconeri sustained their lead at the top of the table after swiftly dispatching Fiorentina 3-0 in Turin yesterday afternoon.

Inter’s other rivals for the title, Lazio, are now only two points behind the Milanese club, after their 5-1 thrashing over SPAL. The Roman club also have a game in hand.