Napoli coach Roberto Donadoni was left to lament his side's 3-1 loss to Inter Milan on Wednesday night.

Donadoni chalked up the defeat to the fear of playing against a team of Inter's stature. 

Speaking to Sky news channel, Donadoni said: "There must have been fear of facing a team like Inter, and I know that we need some results to regain our lost confidence."

The Nerazzurri asserted their dominance after just five minutes of play, as Napoli found themselves two goals down courtesy of Inter's Diego Milito and Samuel Eto'o.

"We basically lost this match in a five minute period.

"We started the game very poorly, and the only consolation is that in the end we limited the damage done."

The Napoli boss went on to explain that it was not a lack of drive that did them in.

"Motivation problems? No, our problem at the moment is that we are uncertain of ourselves.

"We were frightened away on Wednesday night, and this was proven by their two goals scored in the first five minutes."

Donadoni's men must recover quickly then, and muster enough courage to seal a victory over Siena this weekend.