Antonio Conte has warned his Inter players they cannot afford to let their guard down against Sassuolo tomorrow.
The Nerazzurri have the chance to open up an 11-point gap over AC Milan in second by winning their game in hand against Roberto De Zerbi’s side.
Sassuolo are expected to be missing several key players for their trip to San Siro, but Conte is under no illusions that Inter will have life easy against the Neroverdi.
“We’re facing a team which has a clear identity and precise characteristics,” Conte told reporters in his pre-match press conference this afternoon.
“They’ve been working with De Zerbi for a while now and we’ll need to be fully concentrated, respecting everyone and everything to try and win.”
Inter secured a convincing 3-0 win in the reverse fixture at the Mapei Stadium, a match which many believe to have been the turning point in the Nerazzurri’s season.
Conte’s side were leaking goals before their trip to Reggio-Emilia, but they have since tightened up at the back and shot into a clear lead at the top of the table.
“Normally, if you want to be key players in any league you need to have a balance,” Conte explained.
“We conceded lots of goals at the start of the season because we weren’t balanced correctly, then gradually we made some considerations together with the players to try and find the right solution.”
Inter have potentially benefited from not being in Europe since December, but they will only have three full rest days to recover between Saturday’s match at Bologna and tomorrow’s game.
Conte didn’t seem worried about the extra midweek commitment though, arguing: “It won’t count too much, neither for us nor for Sassuolo.
“We’re used to playing every three days and this time we have four days.
“Regardless of that, the important thing is to have enthusiasm and desire.
“We’re doing important things but at the same time we need to complete our journey.”
Lautaro Martinez came in for praise after Conte was asked about the striker’s improvements in terms of his defensive work.
“He’s improved everywhere, with and without the ball,” Conte said of El Toro.
“Lautaro has got better at protecting the ball and running in behind defenders.
“He’s made some really notable improvements, like the others; now he must continue down this path.
“Lautaro has a great future ahead considering his young age, it’ll depend on him.”
Conte also underlined the importance of Romelu Lukaku’s comments after the win at Bologna, when the Belgian said he’d be ‘nobody’ without the help of his teammates.
“The most important thing in any team is to think about ‘we’, because no individual can make a team win (on their own),” he said.
“It’s the collective which helps the individual perform, the guys have understood this and they’re working in this direction.”