Inter coach Roberto Mancini firmly believes his team will be challenging for a Champions League berth until the end of the season.

“There’s a long way to go,” Mancini told reporters.

“I’m sure we will be fighting for third place till the end and I know we can finish there.

“Now’s not the time to look at the tables. The key is to keep on im-proving.”

Mancini began his second spell in charge of Inter by taking one point from three games before they won at Chievo on Monday.

“I can’t be satisfied since we’ve lost twice,” he said.

“However, I’m happy to see that the players are learning and improving. We can definitely make up ground in the next months.”

Inter are in 11th position in Serie A on 20 points, seven behind third-placed Napoli who have a game in hand.

Inter face Lazio today and Mancini has never lost to his former team.

He played for Lazio for three years, a run that ended gloriously as the Roman club won their second Serie A title in 2000.

He went on to manage the team for two seasons before moving to Inter.

“They (Lazio) are a dangerous team,” Mancini said.

“It’s true that they have lost five games already but they deserved better in a few of them.”