Inter coach Antonio Conte discussed the Nerazzurri’s tough 2-2 draw against Roma earlier tonight in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia aired immediately after the game.

First, he touched on whether the squad are missing the killer instinct still, after going ahead in the game 1-0 but not extending their lead.

“We’re talking about a team that I think are doing great things. Beyond second place, if you go to review the goals scored and conceded. We’re in the Champions League four games before the end of the season, 14 points ahead of Roma who had the same objectives as Napoli and AC Milan.

“I think the league has become very competitive in Italy and all teams have equipped themselves. Next year some will be out of the top spots. Instead Inter are always in the fight, I heard the comments in the studio and I say that you have to grow in the habit of fighting for the position in the table, something that has been lost in the last ten years. A habit that isn’t created from one day to the next, you have to work, you have to raise the level of the players, possibly the situation. But to the guys I can say nothing, the game was positive against a team in excellent health.”

The 50-year-old Italian coach then highlighted how the squad are going through extraordinary conditions, considering that they are expected to play every three to four days in the Italian summer.

“Then I’d show you the match schedule, which is going unnoticed. Ours is a crazy schedule, made to put us in trouble. The teams we’ve played against have always had an extra day off, they’ve always played at 21.45. You pay for these things. There’s already an anomaly, you have to see what happens in the last round of the league.

“I don’t want to create controversy, but to tell the guys they did well. When the League chose the schedule, maybe we weren’t there. This is the third game we’ve played with a team that has 24-36 more recovery hours than us. We practice at 30 degrees, come in at night, and after two days we play again.

“Now we’ll be back at 4:00 am, then it’ll be a late night and then you have to prepare for the match against Fiorentina. Who played today, there’s no problem. But the compromises are always negative, every time we get punished.

“It’s strange, in difficult moments we always get punished. It was often like that, in the last game something incredible happened. That’s why I tell the guys that they are praiseworthy, they are facing an incredible cycle of games and getting important results.”

He didn’t want to talk in detail about the situation that saw Roma equalize just before half time.

“No, it’s not doubtful at all. I saw it clearly, Kolarov doesn’t catch the ball at all but Lautaro’s heel. But I have the utmost respect for the referees, they are also experiencing a moment of high pressure and I don’t want to talk about moments.

“It’s not fair, they don’t deserve it. Di Bello made a mistake but he had his game. Of course, if you go 1-0 up at halftime you come back on the pitch with another spirit, we were angry because something unfair happened.”

Finally, Conte revealed what he asks from a player in a trequartista role.

“We wanted him to press the central midfielder today because they were playing through balls so we didn’t want to stay behind them for too long. Then we wanted to create superiority in the middle of the pitch by having Diawara and Veretout covered, when they came to press us we had to be ready to find the free midfielder. In the first half we had to play more vertically.”

Inter are now second in the league table after 34 games, sitting five points behind league leaders and rivals Juventus. The Nerazzurri will now be praying for Lazio to beat the Bianconeri tomorrow night, as a Juventus win would see the Turin based club rise eight points ahead of the Milanese club with four games remaining.