Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images
Antonio Conte has said he did not intend for Christian Eriksen to make his Inter Milan debut so soon after the Danish midfielder played 24 minutes in Wednesday's 2-1 Coppa Italia quarter-final win against Fiorentina.
Eriksen only completed his £17 million move from Tottenham Hotspur to the San Siro on Tuesday, signing a contract until 2024.
In his first outing for Inter, he replaced Alexis Sanchez in the 66th minute to a rapturous reception from the home crowd.
Conte said after Inter's victory that he had not wanted to put Eriksen into action so quickly, but his hand was forced by a lack of midfielders, per Rai Sport (h/t Goal's Patric Ridge):
"We did not intend to use Eriksen so soon, as he only started training with us yesterday, but Matias Vecino and [Nicolo] Barella were the only available midfielders.