Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni believes his side has been cursed with injuries this season.
The Nerazzurri lost 2-0 to Cagliari on the weekend to fall to seventh on the Serie A table and he blamed a number of injury worries, including that to Japan international Yuto Nagatomo, for contributing to their average performances so far this campaign.
"The key was yet another injury in this cursed campaign, as we lost Walter Gargano. His absence made us lose something in terms of balance," Stramaccioni told reporters.
"Yuto Nagatomo then came off the bench and got injured again after three minutes, so we've lost another two players for Wednesday (Copa Italia semi-final second leg with AS Roma).
"Any side that loses two forwards [Antonio Cassano and Diego Milito] to injury and other big players would struggle to do well."
