MILANELLO – Ignazio Abate has urged his team-mates to build on the victory over Inter in an exclusive interview to the Milan Channel:
“Last night was without a doubt a great match and the result shows we have heart and character. We showed we are a clinical team that has the cutting edge. We battled and brought home a deserved 3 points. Our approach was spot on. The coach filled us with self-confidence and we were ready for the battle with their forward line. We never dropped deep and we broke forward on the break perfectly on several occasions. The belief in our abilities has changed. In short, there has been a change to our mentality. We have to be ambitious and not dwell on past triumphs. The win yesterday was important, but we are still only in sixth place. We still haven’t achieved anything. We need to be consistent and the next three matches will reveal a lot about us. The situation has changed under Mihajlovic and we now have a clear identity. You can see there is a great spirit. But it’s also true that we have had too many slip-ups this season. The next matches will be key in revealing if we can aim for the top positions. We have always been behind the coach. But we the players also have to do our part. We are the first ones who want to do well and want to take this club to the top. This may not be the stellar Milan side of the past, but you cannot say anything against us in terms of our commitment, desire and character. We proved that last night, but it’s still not enough. We need to be at our best ahead of the next matches which will be key for the league. Let’s focus now completely on Palermo. Our objective is to aim for Europe. This team has a lot of ability and it’s not true we cannot get amongst the top positions. We just need more awareness and confidence in our abilities, a quality you find in the top teams, and that enables you to go on a winning run.”