MILAN - Davide Santon says that Frank de Boer's belief in him is one of the factors behind his resurgence this season.
The 25 year-old has been a key figure under the Dutch coach, starting six of the Nerazzurri's seven league fixtures so far.
"I've come back and had a good few months,” the full-back told journalists during an event at Centro Infiniti Milano, home of F.C. Internazionale's official car supplier.
“There have been a few ups and downs but I've got going again this season under De Boer. He showed faith in me from the outset. I'm getting regular games under my belt and I'm working my way back to my best form again. I'll keep working as hard as I can in training.”
Davide then went into further detail about the work being done on the training ground with the Dutch tactician.
“It's going really well with De Boer. He's moulding the team to his liking and with time our quality will come to the fore.
“Things like your positioning are fundamental in football. We're working hard so that we can cause problems for our opponents.
“I don't think there's a problem with our intensity; it's more a mental thing. When you concede the first goal it's not always easy to come back. We're Inter and we can't sit back and wait for our opponents. We need to close them down and play in the opposition half.”
Cagliari are Sunday's visitors to San Siro and Santon insists nothing less than a win will do.
"We must get points on the board in our next few games because we know how hard it is in Serie A. We want to get going again after Roma – a match we might have won just as easily as we lost it. It was a strange game.
“We want to beat Cagliari. We have to go into every game with the right mentality and make a strong start because it's always hard once you fall behind. We need to give 100% at all times. We want to at least qualify for the Champions League and then we'll see.
"There's lots of ability throughout the squad and the gaffer's adding his own touch. Now it's up to us. Roma, Napoli and Juventus have been playing together as a team for longer but we have some great players and our quality will shine through. We can give anyone a game – we showed that against Juventus.”
What about a possible recall to the Italy squad? “I do think about that but I'm more focused on Inter to be honest, because if I perform well here then other things might come along as a result. I've been through a tricky period but I think I'm proving myself all over again now.”
The defender also shared his thoughts on new team-mate Gabriel Barbosa and talk of a potential move to Inter for Matteo Darmian.
"Gabigol has the ability to be a top player but it's still early days. He's young and he's just come here from another country.
“I know Darmian very well. He's a friend of mine and he'd be very welcome here. You expect competition for places at a club like Inter.”
