Chievo v Inter: D´Ambrosio urges Inter to build on positives

​Danilo D’Ambrosio has urged Inter to build on the first-half showing in their last Serie A defeat as they bid to return to form at Chievo.

Roberto Mancini is still waiting for a first league win since taking the Inter reins for a second time last month and was left fuming after seeing his team throw away a one-goal lead in last Sunday’s 2-1 home loss to Udinese.

That result meant that Inter have taken just two points from their last five Serie A outings, a streak that has seen them tumble into the bottom half of the division.

While Mancini was furious at Inter’s inability to see the game out against Udinese, full-back D’Ambrosio – who made his first start in two months in Thursday’s goalless UEFA Europa League draw with Qarabag –  believes they need to take the positives from that game.

“We have to take the first half against Udinese and start from that,” D’Ambrosio told Mediaset after the stalemate with Qarabag.

“The upcoming matches against Chievo and Lazio are two important hurdles for us.”

Monday’s clash with Chievo figures to be the least imposing of those two hurdles, yet the Verona outfit have enjoyed a renaissance under Rolando Maran.

Maran began his reign in October with losses to Genoa and Palermo, but his side now welcome Inter to the Bentegodi unbeaten in five, a sequence that has included draws with Lazio and Udinese.

And Maran’s men should take great confidence from their displays versus Inter last season, when Chievo took four points from the two meetings with the 18-time Italian champions.

Although Inter are a side very much out of form, Chievo’s French defender Nicolas Frey is still wary of the quality they possess.

“It isn’t the Inter of a few years ago,” Frey said. “But it is still a team that deserves respect.

“After the change of staff we found confidence, we have
00000318
fallen in anxiety and now we attack the opponents.”

Frey will be unavailable for selection this time around due to suspension, while centre-back Ervin Zukanovic is also banned for the encounter.

Inter are likely to be able to recall Brazilian Jonathan for the squad for the first time since September.

The right-back’s return should serve as a welcome boost to an Inter defence that has shipped 21 goals in Serie A and will need to tighten up if Mancini’s side are start a recovery as they try to salvage a league campaign that at the moment looks destined to end in a mediocre mid-table finish.