Ranieri proud of ´determined´ players

Inter Milan boss Claudio Ranieri lauded his squad’s depth after they booked a quarter-final berth in the Coppa Italia against Napoli.

Inter continued their fine recent run with a 2-1 win over Genoa on Thursday, their seventh consecutive win in all competitions.

Inter welcomed back key playmaker Wesley Sneijder, who played 80 minutes, and secured the win without regulars Gianluigi Buffon and Mauro Zarate as keeper Luca Castellazzi and striker Luc Castaignos were among those to deputise.

Former Juventus manager Ranieri has presided over Inter’s rapid rise in recent weeks with the club moving up to fifth in Serie A from as low as 16th in early December, and he paid tribute to his players.

“I’m satisfied. Tonight I put out the players who haven’t played much up till now, apart from a couple of regular starters, and it was a good game,” Ranieri said.

“The secret is in the players. When you have talented, determined players it makes your job so much easier.”

Goals from Maicon and Andrea Poli put Inter ahead before Valter Birsa’s late consolation made for a nervy finish.

The next few weeks will determine whether the club can genuinely push for the title with fourth-placed Lazio the next visitor to the San Siro on Sunday before the Coppa Italia quarter-final tie with Napoli next Thursday.

“We have to keep doing what we’re doing now. We have Lazio coming up, a team that have racked up points on the road as well as at home. We must focus on them now,” Ranieri added.

“At the moment all we must think about is doing well, we’ll see how things go against Lazio. It was important to get through tonight, the lads did well.”