The struggling Serie A giants lost from a winning position against Fiorentina but the French defender insists that his side can still make the Europa League

Philippe Mexes says AC Milan must continue to aim for a European spot despite Monday’s defeat to Fiorentina leaving them 10 points adrift of the Europa League positions.

The Rossoneri squandered the lead in the last eight minutes to go down 2-1 against Vincenzo Montella’s side in Florence.

And while the French defender admits his team is playing with fear at the moment, he believes they can still make a late run for the top six.

“We dropped our level too much and we tried to see it out defensively,” Mexes told Milan Channel of the Fiorentina reverse. “In the end, the fear took over after the concession of the late goal against Verona in the previous game.

“But Milan cannot remain out of Europe. We have to stand up – there are 33 points left to play for and we will look to take them all. It is a difficult championship for everyone but we must try to win every game from Saturday onwards.”

The future of coach Filippo Inzaghi has been cast in severe doubt in the face of Milan’s run of just two wins in 12 league games.

But just as the former striker was upbeat following their latest defeat, so Mexes believes there are positives to be taken from Monday’s loss.

“We have to take good things from the match against Fiorentina,” he added. “We saw a proactive team who tried to play with the ball. We are Milan and we must continue on this path.

“Maybe in some situations we lack a little grit and we are short on confidence. But we must work to concede fewer goals because we know that, with our players, we will always be capable of scoring more.”

Milan return to the field on Saturday at 20:45 CET, with struggling Cagliari the visitors to San Siro.

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