Ranieri cautious of lowly Lecce

Inter Milan boss Claudio Ranieri has warned his team not to underestimate lowly Lecce ahead of their Serie A clash on Wednesday.

Ranieri’s men have surged into fifth on the table after a poor start to the season, but are 10 points adrift of league leaders Juventus.

They meet Lecce, who are bottom, at the San Siro in their final game of the year, and Ranieri said his side would need to maintain focus to collect three points.

“They’re a team in last place in the standings, but from what I’ve seen and what I know they don’t deserve to be in that position. They have quality players and will give us a headache,” Ranieri said on Tuesday.

“Lecce have earned only one point in the last three matches, but have scored seven goals. They’re a team that in eight matches away from home have lost four, won two and drawn two.”

“They close down space and hit on the break, so Inter will have to have one of their best performances.”

“We’re very focused on Lecce. We can’t be distracted for an instant, and we’ll have to maintain our concentration.”

Lecce have won just twice this league campaign, and are quickly losing touch with the rest of the competition, now five points from safety.

Under manager Serse Cosmi, who has been in charge for two matches, Lecce have scored five goals, a stark contrast to the 11 they netted in 13 league matches under Eusebio Di Francesco.

Ranieri said he was wary of the threat Lecce could pose to his team.

“There’s respect for Lecce, who have players who can cause problems for us,” he said.

“That’s why I’m asking for maximum care. We’re doing well and we want to end the year well, with a good performance and a victory.”

“It takes humility, determination and tactical wisdom to find an opening in the right moment.”

Ranieri refused to speculate about his January transfer targets after reports on Monday said Inter were after Chilean forward Eduardo Vargas.