MILAN – Andrea Bertolacci has been speaking exclusively to Milan Channel. The midfielder had this to say:

“We definitely expected a bigger victory against Alessandria. They deserve credit because they were well prepared. We won and now we are focused on the derby, which will be its own story. In the first derby we showed we did not deserve to lose, an incident decided the outcome. Now we must concentrate. Sunday will be another game because we will play at home, but also because we want to win for us and for the fans. We have to play well to put Inter in the greatest difficulty. It will be up to us to do this. We think about ourselves, not others.

“We say that we should not think about the table, but it is not easy. It is an important match, especially since it is a head to head. We need to climb up the table so this game means a lot. He have lost six or seven points along the way, such as in the matches against Carpi, Verona, Bologna, where he did not deserve to draw or lose. If we had brought home the point, we would be talking about a different table.

“Galliani is right, when you look around the dressing room you see really strong players. Important individuals. We are just missing that step more to get further up the table. You also need a bit of luck but that is not all. We also need to close out matches that are very even such as Empoli. We are not pleased with our league position either. Another six or seven points more will change our position.

“We are fine physically. We are running and battling. We ran for 90 minutes against Fiorentina. We have to work on the psychological side. It will be my first derby. I was injured for the first match but I want to play in this one. It is important for me and show what I can do. I don’t want to talk about my transfer value. I am waiting for an important four months and I want to get Milan as high up the table and get into Europe.

“Handanovic has been playing really well and maybe I would take him out of the Inter team. Maybe the tension will rise as we begin to prepare for the game more. We want to give our fans a gift. Those players with more experience will transmit that to the new players. I never rely on luck but I always  feel I will score and it would mean more in the derby and make history with Milan.

“The coach will explain how we will face Inter over the next few days. We have to play our game and not think about them. Since I have been at Milan we have shown we are a strong team. Maybe we are missing a bit of consistency. We have to work on our mental side and concentrate on what we need to do. You need 11 players and though sometimes an individual can make the difference the team is the most important thing.”