Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi feels that he and his team are not going to let themselves get distracted from what they have to do against Porto tomorrow by criticisms coming from off the pitch.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset ahead of tomorrow evening’s Champions League round of sixteen second leg match at the Estadio do Dragao, via FCInterNews, the 46-year-old stressed that the team’s focus is solely on preparing for what will be a difficult match.
Inter go in to tomorrow’s match against Porto knowing not only that it will be a massively important match in and of itself, but also that the pressure will be turned up all the way after recent defeats against Bologna and Spezia in Serie A.
The team can have the opportunity to put those setbacks behind them if they reach the quarterfinals of Europe’s top competition.
However, in order to do this, Inzaghi and his players cannot be anything other than completely switched-on and focused on the task at hand.
Asked if he’s been affected by criticism, the coach replied “No, it’s not a problem.”
“I’m used to it, I’ve been in football for a long time,” he continued, “it’s part of the job.”
“I’m only focused on tomorrow’s match, we’ll try to give our best.”
The coach called tomorrow’s match “An important match, of the kind we’ve already played several times before, we have the chance to reach the last eight of the Champions League with a win and so we’re preparing at our best.”
Regarding the shock loss to Spezia last week, Inzaghi said that “The last match prompted a lot of talk, matches like the one on Friday are difficult to take considering the result and how we actually played on the pitch.”
“The guys and I all analyzed it, we saw what went wrong, but I have nothing to say about the commitment of the team,” he added.
Of the availability of defender Milan Skriniar for tomorrow’s match, Inzaghi said that “He’s here with us, he was out for two and a half weeks and he’ll have to be evaluated just as everyone else will.”
“Unfortunately we lost Gosens to injury, and hopefully we’ll have him back after the break,” he added.
