Ranieri: I will not resign

Claudio Ranieri says he will not resign as coach of Inter after overseeing his side’s 1-0 defeat to Serie A rivals Napoli on Sunday.

An Ezequiel Lavezzi goal in the second half consigned the Milan giants to a fifth consecutive loss, extending their winless run to eight matches.

But Ranieri insists he wants to stay on at San Siro, but conceded that he cannot force Inter president Massimo Moratti to feel the same way.

“I do not know – I cannot answer for the president,” Ranieri told Sky Sport Italia after the match, “But I will not resign because I believe in these lads and this team.”

“We lost, but at the same time we have the strength and the energy to start winning again.”

“The team has suffered. We knew that Napoli would attack us, fresh from their momentous win in the Champions League. We also wanted to win, but we did not succeed.”

“We are going through a rough patch, but February has now finished and we hope to get ourselves out of this dark period.”

Inter remain seventh in the Serie A standings but have fallen nine points behind third-placed Udinese, who occupy the last Champions League spot.

Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri lavished praise on his team’s performance, while also reserving a special mention for Lavezzi.

“We were very good in the first period, we were aggressive and we pinned Inter in their own half,” Mazzarri said.

“We played a great game, perhaps even better than the one against Chelsea. Lavezzi has made great strides, he is scoring with more consistency, he has matured and has become a champion.”

“I am in love with these guys, when our adventure in Naples first started nobody imagined we would come this far.”

Napoli sit fifth in the standings, five points behind the Champions League places.