Conte hails Juventus work ethic

Juventus coach Antonio Conte was delighted with the “remarkable” effort shown by his players in Sunday’s last-gasp 1-0 win over Udinese.

The Serie A champions left it late in Turin, with Fernando Llorente’s injury-time header the difference between the two sides.

Juve are now three points clear of Roma at the top of the Serie A table and Conte was pleased with the efforts of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who made several stunning saves in the second half.

“It was a good game and a decent advert for football, both sides went out for the win and extraordinary saves were made by (Udinese’s Zeljko Brkic) and Buffon,” Conte said.

“My lads were remarkable, we approached the encounter following our Champions League match in midweek, but more than held up from a physical point of view.

“I waited until the end to go gung-ho, also because there’s only one point’s difference between a draw and a defeat.

“Now we’re three points in front, but two weeks ago Roma were five ahead of us and Napoli. We’re established and are continuing to build something important in terms of play and mentality.

“We always go out to win and I’m lucky enough to coach a group of players who want to make their mark.”

Andrea Pirlo was forced off early in the game with a knee injury, but Conte remains hopeful that the problem is not serious.

“We hope it’s not twisted and is just a knock,” he added.

“I want to be optimistic, he’s a champion and will look to return immediately.”