Inter manager Antonio Conte has admitted that whilst it was not a good match, it was important that his side came away with all three points in their home match with Napoli.

Inter won the match 1-0 thanks to a penalty from talisman Romelu Lukaku during the second half and Inter are now just one point off of top spot.

“It is definitely an important win, one obtained against an excellent team like Napoli who have ambitions like ours to be a protagonist in Serie A,” he explained to Inter’s official club broadcaster Inter TV following the match at San Siro.

“It was a very balanced and tactical match. It was not a good match, I repeat very tactical but we won. It was important to do so, now we have to continue like this.”

He then looked ahead to Inter’s upcoming fixtures before Christmas and stated what the team must try to do: “From now until Christmas we have Spezia and Verona and we must try to continue this positive trend and continue to win.”

The former Chelsea manager, who is half way through his three year contract with Inter, then went on to sing the praises of the group of players at his disposal.

“This is a group that, even if at times it may not show it to me, cares a lot and suffers. The group has suffered a lot from the elimination from the Champions League, like me.

“It is a responsible group, I am happy from this point of view because they want to work. I hope that over time they become busy because you have to be smarter and shrewd, but time and experience will give us this too.”

In conclusion he was asked whether recording just a fifth clean sheet of the season was an important step forward for his team, whose defence has not been as solid this season as it was last.

“Absolutely yes, especially against a team like Napoli. In this first part of the season we have scored many goals and perhaps conceded too many.

“We have changed a little bit, we can be less unscrupulous and have less high blood pressure, even if tonight we did it for all the first half. We try to find more balance by trying to be more airtight from this point of view.”