Roberto Mancini said Inter Milan's poor preseason results are "irritating" but stressed that the games had still given him cause for optimism ahead of the new season.
Inter fell to a 1-0 defeat to Mancini's former club Galatasaray on Sunday, extending their run of preseason defeats to four.
They have also failed to score a single goal in the games, against Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Galatasaray, despite heavy investment in the squad this summer.
The Nerazzurri begin their league campaign against Atalanta on Aug. 23 before travelling to Serie A newcomers Carpi a week later. They then host AC Milan in the derby and Mancini expects his team to have hit top form by that stage.
"We create opportunities but we're unable to score goals," he said on Inter's official website. "Fortunately that's the case now and I'm sure that once we start scoring, we'll keep doing so without any problems.
"We'd only trained once since returning from China so it's only natural we weren't at our sharpest. There were some positives in our performance against a side who are further along in their preseason than we are.
"At this stage of the campaign you're better off facing strong sides and losing, as opposed to choosing easier opposition. It helps us to see where we need to improve. We're lacking goals but we will start scoring them. Losing can be irritating but I'm not concerned."
Stevan Jovetic was given his first run-out in an Inter shirt only days after his move from Manchester City was confirmed, but Mancini said it "will take up to a month" before the Montenegrin reaches peak condition.
The 25-year-old was nevertheless delighted to be back on the field of play.
"I felt good," he told Inter Channel. "I hadn't played for a while, the last time was with the national team, then just training sessions with Manchester City.
"I'm pleased. Given it was my first game, I feel good physically. Obviously there's still work to do so I can link up well with my teammates. There are three weeks to go until our first competitive game and we'll need to be at 100 percent. I'm sure we have a good squad -- let's hope we have a good start to the season."