Antonio Conte defends Mario Balotelli call-up

Italy manager Antonio Conte has defended his decision to include Mario Balotelli in his squad for the country's upcoming games against Croatia and Albania.

The 24-year-old has endured a difficult start to the season at Liverpool and had not previously been called up by Conte since the former Juventus boss took charge following the World Cup.

"A month ago, I had to explain his omission, today why I called him up," Conte told reporters.

"The simple answer is that Italy, after the disappointment of the World Cup, is trying to build something beautiful that we can bring to our qualification [campaign] and [hopefully] a good European Championship.

"It was planned that Balotelli would be called to be evaluated, because you cannot judge [players] on hearsay. Surely it's right that we assess him closely."

Balotelli has scored twice for Liverpool this season, but is yet to find the net in the Premier League.