Inter midfielder Ever Banega believes slow starts are costing Frank de Boer's side after they went down to a 2-1 Serie A loss at Roma.
Edin Dzeko gave the hosts a fifth-minute lead, meaning Inter have conceded inside the first 15 minutes of each of their past three winless matches in all competitions.
Banega produced a coolly taken equaliser before Kostas Manolas sealed the points for Roma, meaning the Argentina international's first Inter goal came as little comfort.
"It's a shame my goal ultimately didn't help," he told reporters
"It was a very difficult game and we created so many chances, it's disappointing to emerge empty-handed.
"We must continue working and going forward to get back to winning ways as soon as possible.
"It's a pity about the goal at the start, then we failed to make the most of our opportunities. This game teaches us not to repeat the same mistakes.
"We must learn to start strong in the opening 15-20 minutes and not just react to going behind."
Inter defender Davide Santon felt unnecessary mistakes cost his side.
"We committed too many errors when building play, despite the fact we knew Roma have super-fast players, he said on Inter's official website. "We controlled the contest better in the second half but conceded a free-kick that we should have avoided [for Manolas' goal].
"We were feeling confident at 1-1 but their strike for 2-1 took the wind out of our sails. We have to work hard, we conceded first yet again this evening.
"The objective is still [qualifying for] the Champions League but we have to improve our approach.
"Too often we allowed Roma to pick up the second ball. We had a lot of chances but couldn't manage to equalise straight away.
"We messed up lots of passes and both sides had bags of openings to score."
