Inter striker Edin Dzeko has urged his teammates to focus on making up ground in the Serie A title race, and insisted that he can partner Romelu Lukaku in attack.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina star led the line as Inter faced Real Betis in a friendly in Seville yesterday, in a match that finished 1-1, as they prepare for the return of Serie A action in January with the visit of league leaders Napoli.

In an interview published in today’s newspaper edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport, the former Roma striker said that Inter had to focus on catching up with Napoli and building momentum for the second half of the season, as they trail the Partenopei by 11 points.

“Accelerate, now we just have to accelerate,” the 36-year-old declared.

“You have to give credit to Napoli for having built up this gap. The only thing we can do now, I repeat, is to speed up, because you can always catch up.

“Last season can be a lesson for us. In January everyone said that we were already champions and even there, perhaps, we relaxed a little, thinking that it was done. But Italian football is like that, there is no game in which you can give less than 100%.”

With the season interrupted by the World Cup, Dzeko felt that it could be beneficial to have more rest and urged the Nerazzurri to use it to their advantage.

“A lot of players will have had more rest days than usual, even those back from the World Cup. I don’t see anything wrong with that, the body can almost react better.

“More than the break, however, I would focus on the aftermath: I just hope that Inter will do better and not repeat the same mistakes made so far.”

With Lukaku returning to fitness after missing much of the season, it has been suggested that coach Simone Inzaghi will consider pairing him alongside another powerful striker in Dzeko, and the Bosnian was adamant that it could work.

“Great players can always play together. I don’t see the slightest problem being in attack with Romelu, but also with all the other teammates,” Dzeko went on.

“In the game you always find a way to fit in, there are no limits at the start. In my career I have often played with centre-forwards of my own “size”. At Wolfsburg I did very well with Grafite, at Manchester City there was (Alvaro) Negredo and (Mario) Balotelli. At Roma I played with (Patrik) Schick.”

Inter have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League and Dzeko felt that they could make an impact on the continent, but was also focused on the Supercoppa Italiana against AC Milan next month.

“Some say that we are not European enough, but I simply say that we are a great team, really strong, that in the first part of the season did not express our real value.

“In the Champions League we did better and now with Porto, a very good opponent, we start with a 50-50 chance, although only the pitch will that be determined.

“In the meantime, however, we want a first trophy right away, the Super Cup against AC Milan.”

Dzeko is approaching the final six months of his contract at Inter, and is in a similar position to centre-back Milan Skriniar, and though the striker was hopeful that his teammate would remain, he was reluctant to interfere.

“He is very, very strong. Of course it would be important, in the future he could become the captain. We all love him, but everyone has to make the best choices for his life and no one has the right to get involved in that.

“Let’s put it this way: my will is to do well until June and the rest will follow. I won’t add anything else,” Dzeko said of his own future.

The former Manchester City striker joined Inter from Roma in 2021 and has scored 26 goals in 70 appearances.