“We won at last – now we can smile!” That was how Sandi Lovric summed up the feeling in the Udinese camp following their win over AC Milan at the weekend.
The Slovene midfielder was speaking on Udinese Tonight two days after Gabriele Cioffi's side triumphed 1-0 at the San Siro.
“We'd gone a long time without winning and it was tough but it's a great feeling now,” Lovtic continued. “We know we mustn't stop here: we must kick on with the confidence we've got from this game and take it into our next match.
“We all feel involved here. We know we have to stick together as a team. We're all important and we all help each other. This victory can set us off on a roll.
The 25-year-old then commented on Cioffi's impact since his return to the Udinese dugout.
“The gaffer talks to us a lot. It's important to him and we need it. He's spoken to me a lot too and we understood each other from the off.
“He's given us something different. He says midfield is our home and no opponent must enter our area. It gives us confidence when we're in possession because we know we have a team-mate nearby. That's how we got the point at Monza and three against Milan.”
Saturday's match against the Rossoneri was Lovric's 50th appearance for Udinese, just over a year after making the move to Italy.
“It's a great feeling and I'm very happy. I'm honoured and proud to have played this many games already and I hope to play many more. I try to do everything I can for Udinese every time I set foot on the pitch. This is the first time I've played for a team in one of the top five European leagues. It's not just a club for me - it’s my club.”
Lovric was then asked to pick the most memorable matches from his first half century with the club.
"My debut and the last one against Milan. I'll always remember the Napoli game too – when they won the Scudetto here in Udine. I scored a goal but when they scored the whole stadium turned Napoli blue!”