Santon credits change in mentality for team turnaround

The full-back, who was one of the top performers in the Giallorossi's derby victory over Lazio last weekend, arrived to minimal fanfare in the summer - but has impressed with some solid performances in his appearances to date.

Here's what the Italian had to say.

Your reflections on the first three months as a Roma player?

“In the end the final word comes from what you do out on the pitch. They have been three good months here so far. I came here and the fans were not convinced about my arrival. I heard some of the doubts, when you turn on the radio and they are talking about football.

"I came here knowing that it could be a chance to relaunch my career and I needed to work hard – to get the fans on side and repay the faith shown in me. To be fair I think the fans had reasons to be a bit confused, I did not have a good season last year but I wanted to prove myself as a player. I felt good with my teammates immediately. Now we are starting to produce the right performances, we need to push on and do even more.”

In your career there have been two key ‘Ms’ – Mourinho and Monchi. Did the sporting director ever tell you why he had so much confidence in you?

“I have to thank Mourinho for helping launch my career, and to Monchi and everyone at Roma for believing in me. The sporting director never told me what he saw in me. I have been in contact for a while, even when he was at Sevilla. He has always believed in my and I thank him for this: if I am here it is because of him. I hope to stay here a while.”

You played in the derby last weekend…

“I think we gave our best in that match. The whole team gave everything to secure a vital win. But that game is gone now, we need to look forward. It was a great win, and I was delighted to play in it and to get the result. Since then we have added another key win in the Champions League and now we are fired up to keep going. Empoli will be another big test, because if we do well we can work hard during the international break with a sense of calm.”

What has been behind this turnaround?

“The mental aspect is the most important, for me anyway. When you feel free mentality you can play better. Maybe during that bad spell we were hampered, we were struggling. There have been a lot of changes in the squad, and we needed some time to integrate everyone too.

"The ritiro after Bologna was good for us because we talked as a group, we understood what needed to change. We did that, as a group, to get out of the bad spell. We still have a long way to go though. We have a lot of points to make up in the standings.”