MILAN - Salvatore Cerrone analysed his team's performance after the defeat to Chievo.
Speaking to Inter Channel, the Primavera coach said: "The sending-off did affect the game, yes, but it was already a tough game to start with... When something like that happens, you hand the opposition an advantage. We were playing quite well and with the right attitude after losing the derby, but then we went a goal down and that's when we lost our heads a bit. We stopped thinking straight. We needed to stay in the game, keep it at 1-0 and then try to turn things around in the second half.
"If you're not thinking straight you can end up making mistakes that are just unacceptable. You get nowhere if everyone does their own thing. You certainly can't afford to lose the ball and not give chase, especially if the team's a man down. We can't play the way we did today. That was not my team out there, but unfortunately that's what we're doing at the moment.
"Now we have to wipe the slate clean and get ourselves back on track in time for Wednesday's Coppa Italia semi-final against Lazio, which is a massive match for us. We all need to take a leaf out of Eguelfi's book: he came on with the right mentality and determination and did what he was supposed to do. I repeat, this team is not the one we saw out there today or in the derby. We have to dust ourselves off, get our heads down and just get on with it so that we can get back to the excellent level we were at before the Christmas break."
