Sandi Lovric got his and Udinese's season off to the perfect start by bagging an early goal against Catanzaro – and says he's aiming to do much more to help the team this season.
“I'm happy to have scored our first goal of the game and the season but I'm even happier that we're through to the next round,” the Slovene midfielder began in the wake of Friday's 4-1 victory in the Coppa Italia.
“We played with great intensity. We needed to win today and that's what we did. There were a few occasions when we found ourselves a man down in midfield and they made the most of the opportunities. During the break the gaffer told us to get better organised and we played more aggressively afterwards.”
The 25-year-old also commented on the way fellow midfielder Oier Zarraga has settled into the side.
“He's done really well. It's not easy when you join a new club. We veterans are here to help the new lads learn the way we play. He'll get better and we'll help him do that.
"It's important you don't just have one leader in the team. We all need to step up and take responsibility on the pitch. That's something I want to improve too.”
Now the team will shift focus to their Serie A opener against Juventus next weekend.
“Success breeds success. It's always good to win and that's what we work for. Our next target is Juve. We'll be playing at home and we want to win it.”