Icardi: Inter must not lose spirit

Inter captain Mauro Icardi has urged his team-mates not to lose morale after Sunday's 4-1 Serie A defeat at the hands of Fiorentina.

Roberto Mancini's men would have gone 13 points clear of reigning champions Juventus had they maintained their perfect record, yet they never looked like claiming their sixth league win of the season as Fiorentina went three goals up within 30 minutes.

Icardi sees no reason for pessimism, though, as Inter are still joint first in the table and he remains confident they can challenge for the Scudetto in 2015-16.

"Let’s not forget that we’re still joint top of the table. We have a really united, talented group here and we can’t lose spirit over this," Icardi told Inter's official website.

"We’re aiming high, the club has put in a great deal of investment to take Inter back to where it belongs.

"The early blows harmed us and it was hard to turn the result around after we went down to ten men.

"But this was just one match, let’s not make a big deal of it. We need to focus on our next game."

Inter resume Serie A action away against Sampdoria on October 4, with Juventus the next visitors to San Siro two weeks later.