“I’ve never felt detached from the club or president Moratti,” Ranieri told www.inter.it. “In fact, I feel a bond with him, with (club sporting director) Marco Branca, and with all the staff.

“There is no division in the dressing room.

“We are all working like mad because when results are not good, you have to work doubly hard.”

Inter’s five-match winless run in the league has seen them plummet to seventh place, 14 points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan.

“We need to be honest, we are not having a good reason,” Ranieri said. “When I arrived at Inter we won seven consecutive games before we lost our way.

“We need to rediscover the humility to return to do well.”

Ranieri hopes Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg tie at Marseille could mark a turning point for his struggling side.

“We now face Marseille knowing that we can recover and end the season in the best possible way,” he said. “We need to react against adversity.

“I’ve told my players that the real strength of a group is seen when all goes badly and we need to prove that we can deal with difficult times.

“Deep down, football is nothing but a small metaphor of life.”