Inter Milan vs Lazio - Mancini hoping Inter continue strong run

Roberto Mancini has praised his "growing" Inter Milan team as they prepare to host one of his former sides, Lazio, on Sunday.

Victory would strengthen Inter's grip on first place in Serie A, though they will be top until the division resumes on January 6 after this weekend regardless of the result, as they remain four points ahead of second-placed Fiorentina.

"We're happy with the way things are going but the season is still long," Mancini, who played for Lazio from 1997 to 2001, told his club's official website.

"We laid some good groundwork last year and it's going better now. It takes time to build a great team.

"We must keep growing and working. There will be hard times to face but we're delighted to be top at Christmas."

They defeated Cagliari 3-0 in the Italian Cup on Tuesday when Geoffrey Kondogbia returned from injury, and iconic former player and present vice-president Javier Zanetti echoed Mancini's optimism, saying: "From the outside they look a very solid side, improving game by game and challenging at the top again."

Lazio have failed to win any of their past seven Serie A fixtures, leaving manager Stefano Pioli under pressure and in need of a positive result.

Dusan Basta and Keita Balde Diao have returned to training and are therefore expected to be available on Sunday in what is a timely boost for Pioli, but Miroslav Klose has a muscular strain and is expected to miss out alongside Federico Marchetti, Senad Lulic and Ricardo Kishna.

Lazio captain Lucas Biglia has urged his team-mates to conclude a disappointing period with a vital victory.

"We deserve to make it out of this moment because we give our all on the pitch," he told Lazio Style Channel. "We're doing well in Europe and we qualified for the next round.

"We should close the year with three points in Milan and we have the quality to do that.

"Give us some time and last season's Lazio will be back. We're a compact group and we just want results like last year's."