Vincenzo Montella insisted his Fiorentina team were good value for a point after a last-gasp Dusan Vlahovic stunner sealed a 1-1 draw against Inter at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Sunday evening.

Montella heaped praise on Vlahovic after the Serbian’s thrilling breakaway equaliser.

“I’m delighted for him,” said the coach. “I backed him straight away last year, even when we were in a tricky situation, and I backed him again this year even though I could see that he wasn’t ready in terms of the mental side of things, despite you all telling me to play him more. I think he’s more ready now and he’s started the last five games during a difficult spell. He’ll make it – he’s got plenty of willing and massive ambitions so I’m sure that he’ll become a top player. That said, I think we’ve asked more from him than we should from a lad of his age. I speak to him a lot, I feel like he’s my lad, and I’m delighted that he’s scored this goal.

“The club’s initial ambition was to develop the young players and I think he’s made brilliant progress, as have [Luca] Ranieri and [Riccardo] Sottil. Of course, we need to get points, but I think that when we have a full squad we’re a really competitive team: we can achieve our objectives and put a run of two or three wins in a row together.”

Sunday night was another example of Fiorentina raising their game against the big teams this season, with the Viola having already drawn with Juventus and beaten AC Milan in recent months.

 “Perhaps you’re able find higher levels of concentration and application in the bigger games on paper, but as a player you can’t play for the top teams unless you can approach every game in the same way,” said Montella. “It’s a journey – some players get there and some don’t. We’ve said many times that we think we have a good squad on our hands here, but they need to get there – otherwise it would be too easy. It’s an asset: being able to have the same adrenaline we had today across 38 games. That’s the goal.”