Luciano Spalletti warned his Inter players they need to beat Napoli on Boxing Day after dropping two points away to Chievo.

Sergio Pellissier’s stoppage-time equaliser denied the Nerazzurri their first away win in four matches after Ivan Perisic had put them in front at half-time.

Inter’s next match is at home to the Azzurri, who are now eight points clear in second, and Spalletti told Inter TV on Saturday night they will need to win it to reignite their season.

“We’ll need to train even better between now and then because we didn’t win today,” he said.

“It’ll be a tough match but we’ll play to win it, like we always do. We’re further behind them now [in the table] and we need a win.

“We wanted to win today as well, though. We’d prepared for it well and we controlled it almost perfectly; if you don’t then get the rub of the green with key moments it can leave a bitter taste in the mouth…”

Perisic’s goal was his first since 1 September and Spalletti suggested the Croatian could benefit psychologically from finding the back of the net again.

“He’d played well in other matches too,” he continued.

“He’d just been unlucky and then he’d developed a bit of a mental block in front of goal. The fact he’s scored might allow him to play more freely from now on.”