Conte: 'Llorente confidence boosted'

Antonio Conte praised Carlos Tevez and hopes the goal can boost Fernando Llorente’s confidence at Juventus.

Llorente had his first start in a Bianconeri jersey and got his debut goal in a 2-1 win over Hellas Verona.

“Luck isn’t on our side at the moment, as the only time Verona came into our half they scored,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“We did very well to react quickly and turn the game around. We continued to play and seek the goal, but hit the bar and went close on other occasions.

“I had to rotate the squad to give everyone both a chance to rest and to play. It wasn’t easy, as Verona clammed up and Jorginho followed Pirlo everywhere, I thought he was going to follow him into the toilets at one point!

“When you play football, you want to play and not have a man-marker attached to you for the entire match. At one stage we even used Pirlo as practically a trequartista to create some space for the midfielders.

“We know it’s inevitable opponents will try to limit your creative centres and hit you on the break, so we must learn to adapt to these situations.”

Pre-season the strike partnership was meant to be Tevez-Llorente, though so far the Argentine has made a much bigger impact.

“The strikers did very well. Carlos is increasingly a protagonist and an important player for us, especially in moments when the team needs someone to create situations out of nowhere.

“Fernando did well, he can do better, this goal will certainly boost his confidence and that of all of us who worked hard to get him back into shape. It was planned that he would play one of the three games this week. I chose Verona, as we were on home turf and the fans could help him.

“We cannot afford to think there are players who can’t be dropped. We play every three days, they need to rest and squad rotation is essential, so soon enough Tevez will also be rested. Otherwise we risk reaching October with him on a stretcher.”