Roberto Mancini has revealed that he is surprised by how difficult his second spell in charge of Inter Milan has been.

Inter have won just five Serie A games since Mancini returned to San Siro in November, and despite conceding that some of the problems have been unexpected, he is keen to remain patient as he looks to turn the club into title challengers once again.

"When I arrived I thought it would be difficult, but I didn't know it was going to be so hard," the former Manchester City boss told Tuttosport.

"But my first Inter team had a complete squad; this is different. [Sir Alex] Ferguson worked for seven years to create his Manchester masterpiece. Inter maybe don't need seven but Inter will need a bit of time and patience.

"I'm not a magician. We have to work hard, while in Italy you want everything immediately. However, we have to start again from scratch."

Inter are currently ninth in Serie A, 10 points outside the Europa League qualifying places.