APPIANO GENTILE – Inter head to Atalanta tomorrow looking to build on last week's success over Palermo and Roberto Mancini held his traditional pre-match news conference today to discuss the game.
He began by analysing the threat posed by Stefano Colantuono's men: "It's going to be an extremely tough game. Atalanta are a very solid side who are hard to play against. They didn't deserve to lose last time out. They give little away at the back and have players up front who can cause problems for anyone.
"We're playing away but I want my players to go out there with the same approach home and away. It shouldn't make any difference when you're a great team."
The boss went on to discuss the improvements his side is making: "I'm reassured by what I see from the lads on a daily basis. They're working away and getting better with every training session. Then of course what happens on the pitch is another matter. In any case they're showing the right attitude.
"Third place? As long as there's hope we have to keep believing. You should never give up because anything can happen in football. That said, we can't be making any sort of calculations at the moment; we just have to focus on doing well tomorrow."
Inter return to the European stage on Thursday night with a trip north to Scotland. Asked if he will rotate his men ahead of the Europa League last-32 first leg, the coach explained: "Right now the match against Atalanta is more important. We want to keep on this upwards curve. Besides, I don't think rotation is really necessary because we'll have four days to recover between the two games. Our only concern is getting players fit again so that we don't have to run risks."
The coach then fielded a series of questions about specific players.
"Podolski's fitness is on the up. He's a highly experienced player and he can help us a lot in the league.
"Santon played two games in four days having previously played just once in months. My only doubt there is that he perhaps needs a bit more time to recover.
"Brozovic has looked good but let's wait before we assess him. He needs time to settle in and adapt to the Italian game. He's without doubt a quality player.
"Icardi doesn't let anything get to him and that's a great thing for a footballer. He's in good shape and I hope he keeps scoring.
"Kovacic is a young player who doesn't have a specific position just yet. With the ability he's got I think he could play in all sorts of positions. That's what he's doing at the moment but I think one day he'll settle into a best position. He needs to develop his game a bit further before he can play in front of the defence but he's hugely talented and in time will be able to play anywhere."
Finally, Mancini was asked once again about Yaya Touré: "Serie A needs great players and Yaya Touré definitely fits into that category, but it's not easy to bring him in given the current situation. It would be a fantastic achievement if did manage to do it."
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