APPIANO GENTILE - Just one strike away from his own record goal tally of 21, Rodrigo Palacio discussed the Nerazzurri's next match, tomorrow against Sampdoria, in an exclusive interview with Sky Sport 24's Andrea Paventi. The Argentine hitman began by discussing this statistic: "To be honest I didn't expect to get this many," admitted the striker. "I came to Inter to do my best and that's what I've always tried to do. I'm not happy entirely happy, if I'm honest, because my team isn't doing brilliantly. I'd rather have scored five goals fewer if it meant Inter doing better."
Although he spent three seasons with Genoa he insisted that, "the game against Sampdoria is like any other. I need to play as I always do, giving my all. We played well both against Tottenham and Juventus, constantly on the attack, and that's what we need to do in Genoa as well. We can't get it wrong, we need to go there and win because we can't afford to drop any more points."
Palacio then explained what Inter need against Sampdoria tomorrow and Atalanta on Sunday: "We just need to win both and make up the ground we've lost. Is there greater responsibility on me since Milito's injury? No, I just play as I always have. If you asked me the reason why we've struggled for consistency, I'd tell you that the many injuries we've had play a part and Diego's in particular because he's a player who makes the difference. Plus we didn't play well in some games."
Not just Milito. Palacio also gave his thoughts on Mateo Kovacic ("I saw right from the start that he's capable of doing great things, we've improved with him here") and Mauro Icardi ("He's very good although we shouldn't yet think about the future, but simply focus on our remaining matches this season").
The forward also spoke about targets and trophies: "The Coppa Italia is important for Inter, just as securing third place is. We believe we can qualify for the Champions League." How many goals does Palacio need to score to make it happen? "Not just me, let's hope it's the whole team bagging them."
Finally his thoughts on the relationship between Andrea Stramaccioni and the Nerazzurri squad: "We've always been with him, he's a great guy, he's young and hard-working."
