APPIANO GENTILE - Roberto Mancini is confident that Inter are continuing to make progress despite seeing his side's run of three straight league wins halted by a narrow defeat to Fiorentina last Sunday.
Speaking to the gathered media at the Centro Sportivo Angelo Moratti ahead of tomorrow's visit to the Stadio San Paolo, the coach opened his press conference by saying: "It's going to be a tough game. Napoli may have lost at Torino last time out but they're having a fantastic season. Regardless of the level of our opponents we must push on with what we're trying to do here because this team is clearly on an upwards curve. It would do us a world of good if we were able to beat a team that's higher than us.
"The lads all seem calm. We mustn't forget who are - we're Inter. We're putting in tremendous effort so that we can reap the rewards in the short term but also with the future in mind. We have to challenge for the Scudetto next year.
"Obviously you have the odd game when you don't get the result you want but the team is making progress week on week. The only match I wasn't happy with was against Empoli when we really weren't at the races.
"We didn't deserve to lose to Fiorentina but football games are decided by moments and if we'd managed to take one of the chances we'd had it would have ended differently. I was sorry for the lads more than anything because they gave everything and created at least five good chances. We certainly didn't play badly. We have to be able to take the positives even after a defeat. We're becoming a team and we'll soon start winning games regularly."
As Inter gear up for another five games in two weeks, Mancini was quizzed about his plans to rotate his men.
He said: "We'll have four days between Napoli and Wolfsburg. I might change a few things around but there will be plenty of time to recover.
"Icardi? He's doing well and could play both games. Will he and Palacio play half the game each? We'll assess everyone's fitness today. We're not going to take any risks but I think they're in decent enough shape to start."
Mancini then brushed off suggestions he should take the credit for Fredy Guarin's recent resurgence: "He was a good player before he met me. He just needed to get his mind right."
The coach went on to field a series of questions about other members of his squad.
"Shaqiri is still young, he's just 22. There's a lot more to come from him once he's settled in properly.
"There's nothing for Kovacic to worry about. With the ability he has it's just a matter of time before he really takes off.
"Podolski can do a lot more. Like Xherdan he needs time to get used to Serie A. He was superb against Cagliari, a bit less so against Fiorentina, but that can happen. He's an experienced player and hopefully he can chip in with a few important goals before the season's out.
"Yes, Hernanes could play tomorrow.
"Will Santon be rested? Who knows..." the coach concluded with a grin.
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LIVE! CONFERENZA STAMPA ROBERTO MANCINI PRIMA DI NAPOLI-INTER 7.3.2015 13:30CET
