At the end of Udinese 2-0 defeat by Inter in the Coppa Italia last 16, coach Kosta Runjaic spoke to the media. Here’s what he had to say:
“Facing Inter is never easy. They’re one of the best teams in Serie A and if you gift them chances, like we did with the first goal, you get punished. At that point, it becomes even harder. Overall, we started well and gave it a go, but if we concede easy goals, it’s tough for us. We did rotate a bit today and gave opportunities to young players. In that regard, I see positive signs.
“We’re happy that Alexis is back on the pitch. After a long injury, he’s returned earlier than expected and we’re pleased. He told us he felt good and wanted to play. He did well, bringing his quality and leadership to the team. He’ll need time, and we have to take care of him because there’s still a long way to go this season.
“We have three more matches to close the first half of the season and then we’ll take stock. We also have injured players who need to regain match fitness. We must stay calm and positive. We’ll face Inter again in the spring and will use this match as experience to try to do better against them.
“I was already thinking about rotation before the match, which is why I substituted [Jaka] Bijol, who has played so much, even with the national team. I decided to give other players a chance to get minutes. [James] Abankwah came on and did very well. [Christian] Kabasele performed well at centre-back.
“We’ll have [Sandi] Lovric back on Monday. [Martin] Payero is already training on the pitch but not with the team yet, so he’ll return to the group next week. [Oier] Zarraga will need a few more weeks, but we can’t be specific for now.
“The same goes for [Keinan] Davis, who’s making great progress. He won’t be available for the trip to Florence but is feeling much better.”