Saelemaekers: "For the coach it is a difficult period, we played and won for him too"

AC Milan winger Alexis Saelemaekers has insisted he gets his confidence from ‘the club and the coach’ and that he only does what Stefano Pioli asks of him.

Some eyebrows were raised when Milan signed Saelemaekers on an initial loan from Anderlecht, but he has now become a virtually immovable member of the starting XI having formed an excellent understanding with the other players on the Rossoneri’s right side.

He put in another lively performance during Sunday’s 2-0 win over Fiorentina, with he and Davide Calabria standing out as being big performers in a victory which sees Milan go five points clear at the top of the table ahead of Roma’s trip to Napoli tonight.

Saelemaekers was interviewed by Sky Italia after the win over Fiorentina with his words transcribed by MilanNews and translated below.

“It is a beautiful moment, for the coach it is a difficult period, we played and won for him too. We are all happy,” he said.

“The club and the coach give me confidence, I only do the work the coach asks of me during training. I’m happy with what I can do on the pitch.”

Saelemaekers won a penalty in the first half when he was bundled over by German Pezzella through on goal, and there was also a decent shout for another penalty on the Belgian in the second half, which would have been a third for Milan in the game.

“For me it was also a penalty but I didn’t see the pictures. We work hard, we are happy with what we can do,” Saelemaekers added.