Roberto Mancini admits his second spell as Inter Milan manager is proving to be harder than he expected.

Inter have drawn one and lost two of the three Serie A matches they have played since the former Manchester City and Galatasaray boss returned to Milan, with their only win under Mancini coming in the Europa League.

Mancini’s tenure started with a credible draw at fierce rivals AC Milan, but the Inter boss admits he was concerned by the manner of the
2-1 defeat at home to Udinese at the weekend.

Inter had led 1-0 at the break but failed to replicate their dominant first-half showing and slumped to defeat.

“My task will be more complicated than I thought,” Mancini told La Repubblica. “I had a different idea of the team idea from the outside.
The match against Udinese amazed me: after the first half I expressed my satisfaction to the players, the match was going well and we had only allowed them one counter-attack.

“We should have continued doing this, I would never have expected a second half like that.”

Mancini managed three Serie A titles with Inter during his stint in charge of the club but he remains cautious over his chances of silverware on his return.

The Italian coach stated titles were a long-term goal on his return to Inter at the end of last month but he admitted it would take time to turn the Nerazzurri into legitimate Scudetto hopefuls.

Inter travel to Chievo on Monday and they can be backed at 1.94 to secure a first Serie A victory since Mancini’s return.