Ranieri: Performance against Parma was the best

The former Roma and Chelsea boss commended his players following their five-star performance against Franco Colomba's men, which he feels has proved their poor start to the season has been flushed out of their system. The win at San Siro has put Inter within a point of fourth-placed Lazio, but they remain five points behind league leaders AC Milan, who have a game in hand. "I think it was the best [performance] of my Inter reign, especially in the first half, we were very careful and we played the game well," he said. "Now we are smiling. You can see that the lads are not finished and they want to straighten out a season which started badly." Despite their emphatic win, speculation is likely to step up a notch over the futures of duo Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlan, after the attack-minded duo were absent from Inter duty once more. However, Ranieri maintained that the pair are still key performers for his side, and hopes they can contribute against AC Milan, in the forthcoming Derby della Madonnina on January 15. "We are in good condition to face Milan, and the holidays have recharged our batteries," Ranieri added. "Sneijder can't be one of the two central midfielders in our 4-4-2 because he does not have the attributes [to do so]. "He and Forlan are two of our major players, but they will have to adapt to the mentality of the team in the coming months. I hope that they can both can recover in time for the derby," he concluded.