De Vrij: "A good start and it's great to be back out on the pitch"

LUGANO - “It was a good start,” said Stefan De Vrij after Inter beat Lugano 2-1 on Sunday. “It’s always great to be back out on the pitch. We’ve worked incredibly hard this week but it was necessary to start getting minutes in the legs. These matches are needed to help us understand what the Coach wants, and how we want to play. It went well, it was important to get off to a start like this.”

As for the first few days working under Conte: “We must prepare to our very best. We must work, sweat and make sure that we’re ready physically. We don’t mind putting in the effort, it’s a great feeling to do it in this shirt.”

Today’s game saw De Vrij introduced to a three-man defence: “I’ve already experimented with it with Lazio and the National Team. It’s not a problem for me. The important thing is to do what the Coach wants. I like his approach, he’s always positive and he explains well what he wants.”

As for the team’s upcoming tour in Asia, De Vrij is excited: We’re playing some big matches and these are the type of games that I like.”