Vincenzo Italiano feels Fiorentina have ‘recharged our batteries ahead of this tour de force’ that starts with the Serie A trip to Inter, then the Coppa Italia and Conference League, a total nine games in 30 days.

It kicks off on Saturday at San Siro at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT).

“A difficult match awaits us against a team that has so many strengths and few weaknesses,” said the coach to the official club website.

“We must go out there and play the way that allowed us to climb back up the table. We know what Inter can do, especially on home turf, so we must respect them, but also play with character.”

The Viola are one of the form teams in Italy at the moment, winning their last seven consecutive matches in all competition.

In April they will also face Cremonese in the Coppa Italia semi-finals and Lech Poznan in the Conference League quarter-finals.

“This is going to be an important month for us and it is crucial we start with the upmost confidence. We have recharged our batteries during the break and prepared for this tour de force with nine games in 30 days. We’ve got to be prepared, both physically and mentally.”

There was some bad news for Fiorentina, as goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu has been ruled out for the rest of the season by a torn Achilles tendon.

He had only joined from Napoli during the January transfer window.

Centre-forward Luka Jovic is also on the treatment table with Aleksa Terzic.

Italiano is looking to break one the taboos from his career, as he has never beaten Simone Inzaghi, managing only one draw out of his five meetings with the Inter coach.

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