MILAN - It was a bitter comeback for Dejan Stankovic who made his return to the team today against Novara, hoping to give his contribution, but things didn't go his way: "I'm really sorry about losing this match," explained Dejan in the post-match interview on Inter Channel, "because I couldn't wait to get back into the team, and fight alongside my team-mates and try to get things going again after a couple of negative results. But a heavy defeat awaited us, we can't deny it. We could have done with a bit more luck because the ball just wouldn't go in for us today.
"I was worried about this tendon problem I have. I thought I might have had to have an operation. But the Inter medical staff were fantastic. I was really happy to be able to start from the first minute today. I was really buzzing and looking forward to a nice afternoon, but things didn't go that way. However this is a lesson which will help us improve. It isn't the first time it has happened to us, but this group has character and that shows through in situations like this."
This isn't the first time that Stankovic, with all his experience in the football world, has gone through periods which weren't easy: "If we think back," continued the midfielder, "I can remember so many hard times, but today we mustn't give up and we mustn't be afraid. It's true that we won everything in the past few years, but we still really want to win and if anyone had come off the pitch at the end of the match not feeling exhausted, I would have broken his arms. I feel sorry for everyone, especially for president Moratti, who is our biggest fan, for our fans, for everyone. Why did they contest us? We gave it all we had, but, with all due respect to Novara, we shouldn't have lost to the team at the bottom of the table. Now we mustn't give in. We must go ahead.
"What will it be like in San Siro on Friday night? A challenge. The fans are right to be angry and they'll tell us to get the job done, which is just what we should expect after losing to Novara. They'll be expecting a reaction from us; they won't stand for any mistakes and that's where we'll see how good we are as individual players and as a team," concluded Stankovic.
