AC Milan captain Riccardo Montolivo believes third place is not beyond his side this season, and said finishing above city rivals Inter remains a realistic target.
Milan trail third-placed Lazio by five points, while they are a single point ahead of Inter with one game to go before the midway stage of the Serie A season.
With just two wins in their last 11 league games -- a run that includes defeats to Palermo, Genoa and Sassuolo -- Milan are hardly showing the form of a team who can qualify for the Champions League next season, but Montolivo still believes they have as good a chance as any.
"Juve and Roma are stronger, but with a workmanlike spirit and improving above all psychologically, we can compete with anybody else," Montolivo told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Our problem is in our minds. We're unable to remain focused for 90 minutes and this is the difference between a great side and one who just have great players.
"A champion is great against Real Madrid and equally great against a side from Serie B. We must not concede anything to anybody anymore, not even in training. We need to put the fighting gloves on. We have what it takes to finish third."
Milan have strengthened their side this winter with the arrival of Alessio Cerci from Atletico Madrid while, across the city, Lukas Podolski and Xherdan Shaqiri have arrived to boost Roberto Mancini's men.
"We're not [afraid of Inter], even if they have made some big signings," Montolivo said. "We aim to finish ahead of them. This is the moment for us to look ourselves in the mirror and understand what we want to become."
Third place is not the only objective this season, however, with Montolivo craving a first trophy of his career.
"Our primary objective is the Coppa Italia and we showed that [against Sassuolo] the other night," he said. "I wold love to start [winning trophies] with that one. All I lack is a trophy -- I haven't won any yet. But I'm still proud. I've played in a Confederations Cup and the final of a European Championship, I played in one World Cup and almost a second."