AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori has praised a ‘very strong’ Newcastle United side that the team will face tomorrow, while revealing his disappointment that he missed the derby.
Tomori was spared from the embarrassment of Saturday night’s 5-1 derby defeat against Inter but the fact he didn’t take part in the game is because he was serving a suspension after being sent off in the win over Roma before the break.
The Englishman was called up by Gareth Southgate for their games against Ukraine and Scotland but didn’t play a single minute, meaning he should be fresh and fit enough to take his starting spot back.
He is predicted to do exactly that, with multiple sources claiming that Tomori coming in for Kjaer will be one of potentially three changes that Pioli makes for the line-up tomorrow.
The former Chelsea man spoke after this morning’s training session at Milanello as part of a press conference alongside Pioli, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.
How sorry were you not to be with your team-mates on Saturday?
“I’m disappointed not to have been able to help my team-mates on the pitch. Watching the match on TV is tough, you can’t help the team. Tomorrow I’ll be on the pitch, I hope (laughs). We’ll try to win and regroup well.”
What will it be like to find Sandro Tonali again?
“Obviously it will be nice to see him again. We played many games together. It will be nice to see him again so soon after his departure. However, we are professionals, when the game starts friendship doesn’t exist. We want to win, after the game we can start being friends again. During the game we are not friends.”
What do you think of Leao? Can he take the place of Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar?
“Why not? Since I arrived here he has improved a lot. He is very important for us and it showed in the Champions League last year. He can still improve, he can become one of the new stars. Let’s hope he can do well from tomorrow.”
What kind of team are Newcastle?
“They are a very strong team, with legs up front and physicality at the back. They play a lot of deep balls. We know the game we expect and then we have to demonstrate our quality with or without the ball.”
How was it seeing Ibra again?
“Ibra gives us confidence, he is a voice in the locker room and we all respect him.”
You can’t trust this guy no more. Winter should be time to sign one serious CB
Leao ain’t no Messi or Ronaldo. He’s far far far away from that level. Learn how to control the ba first would be a good start
Tomori needs to be cautious this time around…his absence felt
Tamori’s absence worsened things.
The damage would have been minimal if he was around and possibly wouldnt have been a damage at all.