APPIANO GENTILE - Part two of Roberto Mancini's Inter v Udinese news conference:

Mancini, with what spirit do Inter start this championship?
"I think the start of the championship is important. We have to try to win and do well tomorrow, even if we don't play that well. But like last season we obviously have to play a few more matches to be in top condition compared to other teams, quite simply because we have a physically strong team that gets in condition a bit later on. We'll have this problem at the start but we still have to try to start well like we did last year."

Udinese, on the other hand, are a young and fast team who will run a lot tomorrow...
"In the first two league matches we face two very fast teams who can cause problems for everybody. So we will have to be very careful."

There's talk of a possible loan move for Adriano to get him back to being the great striker he has shown he can be...
"The most important thing for us is for Adriano to recover and be back soon, but we have been saying these things for a long time. We need to see what the best solution for him is, this is what we want most of all. In this last week of the transfer market we will see what the best solution for him is."

So you're not excluding this possibility? And if it did happen, would you need to buy a new player or would keeping Recoba be enough?
"Recoba is a special case. I spoke with him last season and it's something he has to look at and decide. Adriano is a champion who has been having problems for some time. If these can be resolved by sending him to play elsewhere where he can play regularly without the pressure of fighting for a place in the team, then this could be the most useful thing for him and us. However, we need to see what the most useful thing for him is, he's important for us and he's an asset of Inter. He has proved decisive in the past and we want him to return to doing this. This is the most important thing."

Could the injury to Patrick Vieira force Inter to buy another midfielder?
"We will see. We knew we had to be a bit more careful with Patrick because he had come from two rather serious injuries. We didn't know we wouldn't have him available at the start of the season, but if we had to lose him it was better to now at the start of the season so we can get him back after the break. We'll see what can be done."

If you were asked to choose between a defender and midfielder, which option would you go for?
"For a midfielder. We're fine in defence, even after the injury to Marco we don't need any more players. We have eight players and if we want to we can play Zanetti at full-back. In midfield we didn't know we'd lose Vieira immediately. But if I had to choose, I would go for a midfielder."

Do you still rate Kovac?
"He might have been an option before because he can play both in the centre of defence and in midfield. We have bought Chivu now and he (Kovac) has already played in the Champions League qualifying round."

What kind of midfielder are you looking for?
(Smiles) "One who defends well, attacks very well, knows how to play the ball and also scores goals. I don't know if there are any like this, and who don't cost much. One like this would be perfect. However, we will see."

Besides the physical condition problem, was there anything else that didn't go well in the Super Cup against Roma?
"It was mainly a problem of physical condition. But we didn't do well on the pitch, we seemed like a team who had never played together before. The defeat will help us correct these things. But the game could have gone differently if Figo or Suazo had scored, and we might not have sorted out the problems that you can all have at the start. But having problems at the start is quite normal for all the strong teams, including teams abroad."

On the Super Cup defeat, president Moratti spoke of the team's spirit and motivations on the pitch....
"I agree. Besides the fact that you can play less well than your opponent and that you might be behind in condition, with such good players you can do better even by not playing that well. That's where the motivations come through."