APPIANO GENTILE – "We must go there expecting a tough game. Cosmi has instilled grit and determination into a team that are trying to haul themselves out of the relegation quagmire. Di Michele has scored as much as Milito recently and they'll have Muriel too - a player who scored against us at the Meazza – and Cuadrado, who has real pace. We must be very careful, we'll be playing on a heavy pitch and we'll have to produce a top performance if we want to win." Claudio Ranieri is ready to continue Inter's charge up the table: tomorrow against Lecce, at the Stadio Via del Mare, the Nerazzurri coach has the chance to string together an eighth consecutive league win. In his press conference today he was asked what it would mean to him: "Nothing," he replied, "other than if we win tomorrow it's three more points on the board; I'm not really interested in winning runs and records."
Inter are looking to bounce back from their Coppa Italia defeat against Napoli with a win against the Salentini: "I'm curious to see how the team react, if they have the strength to pick themselves up after a fall. We did fall at the San Paolo, but we played well. Now we go into the second half of the season looking to keep doing well.
"Me being banned? I don't think I insulted the ref. In fact if he's a smart lad, I think he'll take on board what I said to him."
Some people said Sneijder was too worked up against Napoli: "I'm glad you noticed it, but if you noticed that you'll also have noticed that he was a lot calmer in the second half. I have complete confidence in him."
Thiago Motta is not in the squad list for tomorrow's game against Lecce: "I'm not interested in what agents or brothers or uncles or any other relatives say. Otherwise I'd have to go on Facebook or Twitter and reply to all of them. He's not in the squad because the doctor told me he took a knock to his calf and he didn't train yesterday or today. I don't think it's fair to the other players to consider him if he's trained less. I want him to stay, then there are other things to be considered, but there are only a few days left. Let's just wait and see."
Quizzed further on the transfer market, Ranieri explained that, "We have to wait for these four days to pass and we'll see what happens. What do I expect to happen? I expect to work with these lads, I think that's the task of every coach: to get the most out of the squad the club provides him with."
What about Luc Castaignos and Philippe Coutinho? "It's always hard to advise youngsters what to do. You get crossroads in life and you need to be able to choose the right turning at the right time."
Ranieri was also asked whether he might take a few more risks with his Inter team. "That's something we'll do further ahead," he replied, "when Sneijder and Forlan are fully fit. I don't sit there all the time trying to work out if we can get the points we need to reach the Champions League spots. We started late but we're determined to catch up. I don't know exactly how far we've come but I hope we don't fall away; I hope the practical approach we've had up till now can continue with the added finesse of these two champions, who can help take us up another level – that's what we need right now. I would like to see a well-oiled machine that is affected by nothing and no one. I want a team with no sentiments but great inner strength."
