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Kevin Strootman said he was "delighted" to make his return to the Roma starting lineup on Monday, admitting that he never expected to last the full 90 minutes.
The Dutch midfielder was named in the starting lineup for the first time in more than 15 months at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, and played the full contest as the Giallorossi grabbed a vital 3-2 win.
Club president James Pallotta was among the first to praise Strootman's return - saying on Twitter that "you have no idea how it feels to see Kevin out there!" - and the man himself agreed that it was a special return.
“It was tough out there for me and the team today but we got the three points and I feel good," Strootman said. "I'll probably be a wreck tomorrow but I'm fine now.
"It means a lot and I'm delighted.”
Is second place important to you?
“There are no easy games in Italy, we know that. It was hard against Genoa today and the next two will be hard too. We started brightly and got the opener but after that we made lots of mistakes and it was tough against a strong, physical side like Genoa. We had to fight really hard to earn the points and it doesn't matter how we got them, only that we did.”
Can you be Roma's new signing for next year?
“Sure.”
Spalletti said you've been ready to play 90 minutes for a few weeks now.
“No, that's not true. The other guys have done brilliantly to win ten out of twelve matches. They're in better shape than me at the moment for sure. I've definitely felt ready to come on in the last few weeks but I'd never have imagined coming in and playing 90 minutes straight away. I'm really happy now. I'm looking forward and I want to do my bit for the the team after two years out. I'm not looking back. When we went behind today I thought, 'Geez, Spalletti has gone all these games without losing then I play and we get beaten...'”
Can you start on a level pegging with Juventus next season?
“We're not thinking about next year just yet because we have another two matches left to play and we want to try and finish second. It's going to be hard because if Napoli keep winning we can only finish third. Our last two matches are all that matter at the moment.”
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