MILAN – Ignazio Abate gave an exclusive interview to the Milan Channel earlier today at Milanello. These were the thoughts of the Italian defender:

“I believe that this side has shown that, if it wants, it has all the qualities to fight for third place, but it needs to make that final step forward mentally, because to play for this club you must win every 3 days and stay focused for 95 minutes. Unfortunately we’re still lacking in this, when things appear easy we relax a bit, and in the big teams and if you want to reach the top you cannot allow for these black-outs.”

A word on the team’s short term goals: “The objective is to win every one of the upcoming matches, win in Turin, win in the Italian Cup and then win at home to Atalanta. On paper they are winnable matches, but we have to show that we’re superior, otherwise our path towards European qualification will become complicated.”

Abate’s advice to his team-mates: “We cannot have any fear, we must be aware and look reality in the face, this well help us bring out something extra in terms of character that we’re still missing. I hope that we can become consistent with our performances and improve mentally as a group to give continuity to our results and aim for the top places.”