Antonio Conte will be desperate to win the Serie A title for Inter this season, according to former Roma and Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi.

The Nerazzurri finished just one point behind champions Juventus last season and are widely regarded as favourites this year to win the club’s first Scudetto in 11 years.

Inter lie second behind AC Milan with 17 games left and De Rossi, who played under Conte for Italy, is convinced he will do everything to beat the Rossoneri to the title.

“There are many strong teams in Serie A, you have Juventus,” De Rossi explained in an interview with Bobo TV, the Twitch channel of former Inter player Christian Vieri.

“But I know him and in my opinion he is only talking about the title in the dressing room.

“When he plays down Inter’s chances during interviews, he is playing mind games.

“I’d like to go and watch his training sessions, he won’t be asking for anything less than the Scudetto from Inter’s players.

“Conte gives you an important mental strength as a player, that’s how he won with Juventus when they’d finished way down in previous seasons.

“It would be important if he won the Scudetto with Inter because the elimination from the UEFA Champions League was a big blow.

“We are in February and he has put the team in a position to win, but whether he succeeds or not is another thing.

“Conte has prepared his players mentally with that objective in mind, though.”

De Rossi also revealed his favourite quality of Conte as a coach from his time in charge of the Azzurri.

“Conte is a particular sort of man, every now and then he makes mistakes but I met a loyal man,” De Rossi added.

“I always say this about Conte: it is very difficult to be his player but it is beautiful, it sucks away your energy but you like it.

“He’s fair, at least that’s how it was for me.”

Conte will put his title hopes to one side tonight as Inter go in search of their first Coppa Italia final since 2011.

The Nerazzurri must overturn a 2-1 deficit away to Juventus in their semi-final second leg, with the winner meeting Napoli or Atalanta in May.