Inter Milan vs Lazio - Inter boss Pioli focused on task at hand ahead of reunion with Lazio

Posted Wednesday, December 21, 2016 by PA

Inter Milan boss Stefano Pioli meets former club Lazio for the first time on Wednesday night insisting he is happy where he is.

Pioli led Lazio to a third-place Serie A finish in 2014-15 before a dramatic slump the following season saw him sacked in April 2016.

But Pioli was back in a job in November when he succeeded the sacked Frank de Boer at Inter on an 18-month contract.

"It was an intense two years (at Lazio) and an important experience for me, but I'm 100 per cent focused on Inter now," Pioli said at his press conference ahead of the Rome club's league trip to the San Siro.

"The past is the past and the present is looking great."

Improving Inter have won their last three matches in all competitions, with Antonio Candreva's second-half strike securing a 1-0 victory at Sassuolo on Sunday.

That win pushed Inter up to seventh spot in Serie A, seven points and three places behind Lazio.

"We're working hard to improve and secure the kind of results that'll enable us to be where we want to be at the end of the season," Pioli said.

"We've looked good up front thus far, but we can be more clinical in attack.

"Now we have a very important game and we have prepared it for well.

"It's the last game of the year, but the season isn't over.

"We have room for improvement, but the only thing that counts is performing well tomorrow night.

"They'll be tricky opposition for all the sides looking to qualify for the Champions League. They're able to prepare well for every game given that they're not in Europe this year."

Lazio have won four of their last five games and coach Simone Inzaghi felt his side "played the perfect match for 60 minutes" in their 3-1 weekend defeat of Fiorentina.

"Against AC Milan, Juventus and Roma we made some mistakes, but with Fiorentina it was great," Inzaghi said on the official Lazio website.

"Now with Inter it is another direct confrontation and we hope to do even better.

"We are in a good position, but we want to stay up there and we must try to improve on the lapses in concentration.

"The goals have changed, it is undeniable. But I was confident at the beginning.

"I want to close 2016 with a positive result, but it will not be easy against an Inter side that has invested so much and took a great coach who I know very well."

Inter's Portugal midfielder Joao Mario is suspended, but Pioli is expected to stick with the 3-4-2-1 formation which has provided recent momentum for the Nerazzurri.

Midfielder Marco Parolo could return to the Lazio line-up at the expense of Danilo Cataldi.