Roberto Mancini is wary of a young but experienced Empoli side as his third-place chasing Internazionale side head to the Stadio Carlo Castellani for tomorrow's game.
The Nerazzurri started the year with a bang as they registered an excellent 1-1 draw away at Juventus and a very convincing home win over Genoa last week but the Italian believes his players will have to be at their very best against Maurizio Sarri's side.
"Empoli is a very good side with a very good coach," Mancini said.
"They have many youngsters in the squad but plenty of experience as well. It's never easy to win at Empoli so Internazionale will have to be careful, close to perfect.
"We go one game at a time. No game is easy so the focus is right now in Empoli. Only after, we will shift the focus on the Italian Cup and Torino.
"[Xherdan] Shaqiri trained without problems this week but he still is not fit enough to play a full game."
Asked if Yann M'Vila and Dani Osvaldo will leave during the January transfer window, the 50-year-old said: "[Yann] M'Vila needs to play, he worked individually this week.
"We will see in the coming days, it's a shame not being able to give a chance to those who wish to play. It's fair that he considers his future [away from Internazionale].
"[Dani] Osvaldo worked with our trainers, we'll see in the coming days. We never spoke about a possible move to Juventus, I hope we find the best solution for him.
"We are pretty much covered in the offensive department, we have three players who can play up front and others who can play behind them, so I would say we're happy [even if Osvaldo leaves]."
