APPAINO GENTILE - Sinisa Mihajlovic answered questions from the press in Wednesday's media conference at Angelo Moratti Sports Centre:
You have started four of the last five matches. Do you feel you have won your place in the starting line-up?
"At Inter all of us must feel we are first-team regulars. Playing depends on the team you face and your state of form. I have never felt I'm a first-team regular or a reserve player; we are all available. I have never created any problems, not even when I have been on the bench. The main thing for me is to be in good physical form and play a few matches with continuity. I think I'm doing better and better."
What kind of match are you expecting against Messina?
"Messina are an excellent team. They have reached the Serie A and have shown they are very organised and that they can play well. There are never any easy matches in Italy. We will have to play with the same mentality we have shown in our last few matches. On a technical level we're superior to Messina, but we have to show this on the pitch. Our upcoming fixtures are against teams which on paper we can beat. We need to string of wins before the Christmas break so we can move up the table."
Is the draw with Juventus different from the others obtained this season?
"No draw is different. They're always worth a point. Sometimes you come back from behind and it seems positive, and other times you're caught and you're disappointed. Against Juventus we earned a point against one of the best teams around. It was difficult to come back after being two goals behind, which were scored from just one shot on goal. Perhaps we created more than Juventus and we might even have won. But we reacted and we're happy about this. It's an unlucky moment. Nedved had a shot which was going wide, and then Zalayeta touched the ball and it went into the corner... Not much is needed to make the difference in these matches."
At the end of the match against Juventus, president Facchetti set the short-term objective of closing the gap in the championship before the break...
"We started out with the aim of winning the championship and as long as it's still mathematically possible we will do everything to win it. The results will come; the moment we're going through can't last forever. Our team can easily fight for every objective; let's take things match by match and see what happens."
Sometimes your performances aren't evaluated objectively. What do you think?
"There's nothing new about that. I have been in Italy for thirteen years and I'd buy a drink for someone who can write something that has never been said about me... When I started at Lazio it was always Mihajlovic's fault if we let in a goal. But I'm used to the criticism. I believe in the work I do, I arrive two hours before training and I make sure I'm ready when needed. I'm pleased with how the last three matches have gone. I never like being criticised, but I go ahead on my path. We'll make conclusions at the end of the season and see who was right."
