Inter coach Antonio Conte stopped by Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia to share his thoughts on the goalless draw away against Udinese at the Dacia Arena as the Serie A reached the halfway point.

The former Chelsea coach began by explaining what happened when he got sent off, stating that he had a disagreement with referee Maresca regarding the number of minutes he had added on, but underlining that the referee’s decisions must be accepted.

“We had a disagreement over the amount of stoppages awarded. The referee booked me and then chose to send me off. I thought four minutes weren’t enough, in the circumstances.

“Then the referee makes his decisions and we have to accept them, even if we do not agree with those decisions.”

The former Juventus coach was then asked if this was a missed opportunity to go up on equal points with Milan at the top of the Serie A, which he refused to acknowledge arguing Inter must only think about themselves.

“As I always say, we need to think only of ourselves. We mustn’t think about Milan and their defeat. We just have to focus on improving our performances and results.

“We could’ve been more precise today and lacked quality in the final ball. When we put crosses in, we usually have four players push into the box.

“That’s usually the intent, then it’s about the accuracy of the cross. For instance, Nicolò Barella’s cross was what created the goal for Arturo Vidal against Juventus. You need both the cross and to get bodies into the box.”

Conte was then asked to give a rating on Inter’s performances midseason which he refused to do adding that the work that has been done over the last 18 months was very good.

“I prefer others to do that, we just work and try to get the best out of ourselves. I think that amid the many, many difficulties we had this year, Inter are having their say and are protagonists of the campaign.

“Inter deserve that for the club’s history. The second half of the season is still to play, but what we’ve done for the last year-and-a-half has been wonderful, aside from the difficulties that people often don’t realize are there.”

In conclusion Conte was asked to comment on the upcoming quarterfinal in the Coppa Italia against crosstown rival AC Milan, stating that it is a competition the Nerazzurri will respect albeit that they prioritize the Serie A.

“We know that Serie A represents something important for the club and on an economic level, so winning the Scudetto or qualifying for the Champions League is more important than the Coppa Italia.

“Having said that, we still respect the tournament and want to do well. Inevitably, we will evaluate the situation, see who has recovered and who needs more playing time.

“Nobody is underestimating this match and we’ll try to win, as we always do. We don’t put limits on ourselves, but we must find the right approach to beat Milan and go into the semi-finals.”