Juventus coach Ciro Ferrara insisted he would put the club's 2-0 defeat to Palermo firmly behind him and move forward.

Juve were given an embarrassing lesson by Palermo, who dominated the first half, scoring twice, and then threatened to rack up a cricket score on the counter-attack after the restart despite Juve hogging the ball - only the Sicilians' profligacy saved their visitors.

It now means Juve have failed to win any of their last four matches and have only one success in six in all competitions.

But they still lie third in the Serie A table following their first defeat of the season either at home or in Europe.

"Nothing worked, there's no point making excuses, Palermo played better, they played with more intensity," said Ferrara.

"We've got no excuses, I'm disappointed but I'm not worried. Of course it hurts but we have to look ahead.

"I won't let this defeat get to me. Until Sunday we had a small advantage now it's Inter that have that advantage.

"Now we have the international break and I won't have many players to work with but with those who stay we need to understand and analyse this moment.

"We need to be nastier and more compact and to rediscover the right distances (between the lines)."

Having begun the season with four straight victories in Serie A, Juve have not won in three matches, drawing two before losing to Palermo.

They have also drawn both their matches in the Champions League and their early campaign promise is starting to look increasingly distant.

Four matches in they had looked like serious title rivals for Jose Mourinho's Inter but now doubts are starting to be expressed about their scudetto pretentions.

Their only win in their last six matches was a 2-0 home success against rock-bottom Livorno and Juve's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was man-of-the-match that day. » See also page 50