Mancini not giving up on third place

Inter coach Roberto Mancini refuses to give up hope of finishing third in Serie A but has stressed it will not affect their ambitions if they miss out on Champions League qualification.

The San Siro side have fallen seven points behind third-placed Roma following their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Genoa in midweek and face a tough task to catch Luciano Spalleti's men with just four games left.

However, Mancini has no intention of throwing in the towel just yet.

"We have a good team and a battling spirit," Mancini said at a news conference ahead of the game against Udinese. "We didn't deserve to lose against Genoa but things like that happen. Football is strange sometimes. You can take things for granted which for some reason or another don't happen.

"It is going to be a tricky game against Udinese, but it's important for us to win and keep our slim hopes alive. It will be a shame if we don't finish third but Inter will still be a big club even if we finish fourth.

"If you've got the ability, you need the confidence to go with it. We have that but we're also a young team.

"We need to work harder in the final third. Defensively we've improved on last year. It's a shame we couldn't get those few extra goals which would have made all the difference."