AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini insists they can afford to lose tomorrow night's derby against Inter. "It is an important game, but it comes early into the season and so there will be time for everyone to recover lost ground," said the defender.

"Naturally our position in the table makes us a little anxious because we didn't start out well, but we want to change direction."

And Maldini is backing on-loan Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko to stun critics and make a decisive contribution tomorrow.

"Well, Andriy Shevchenko has often done rather well in the derby," smiled Maldini.

"He has resolved many games in our favour, but things have changed for everyone. At the same time I say Sheva is physically ready now, while Ronaldinho is still penalised by the fact he didn't play for three months at Barcelona and couldn't train with us because of the Olympics."