Mancini wants quick end to Inter´s troubles against Juventus
Roberto Mancini wants to bring Inter's mid-season troubles to an end when they face in-form Juventus in the Coppa Italia semi-final on Wednesday.
Inter have only won three of their last eight games in Serie A to slip down to fourth in the table, while Juve - who are at home for the first leg - are on an astonishing run of 11 consecutive league victories and now sit second.
Mancini admits his team are in a sticky period and wants to see them move through it immediately, starting with a first-leg result that keeps them in with a chance of winning the tie ahead of the second leg at San Siro on March 1.
"Unfortunately there are times when things just don't go your way and that is not because the lads are playing badly," the head coach told Inter Channel.
"We are putting in a lot more running that we did at the start of the season. Some teams struggled early on and we are having a bit of trouble now.
"Let's try and get through this period as quickly as possible and string a run of wins together to get us back up there. We are capable of doing that so we need to keep calm.
"You expect to face a strong team when you reach the semi-final stage. The match is played over 180 minutes so we need to perform well to achieve a good result in the first leg and have a chance of going through in the second."
Mancini does plan to freshen up his selection for the game at Juve, with the winners of the tie going on to meet either AC Milan or third-tier outfit Alessandria in the Coppa Italia final.
He added: "We will certainly make some changes because we are playing every three days at the moment.
"Juventus have recovered so many points in recent weeks and they are definitely in great form. We will need to put the hard work in and fight. As for the playing system, we will see on Wednesday."