Their march towards the title was interrupted by a 1-1 draw at home to Udinese on Wednesday, but second-placed Roma failed to exploit a rare slip-up by the champions after their 2-2 draw at Chievo.

"We're not going to make a drama out of this after 17 consecutive victories," said Inter captain Javier Zanetti ahead of Saturday's trip to Livorno.

"We must stay calm. We've had a superb run and it's very hard to keep this tempo going, particularly in the Italian championship.

"We mustn't worry about the draw. We need to have the same confidence as before and focus on our objective of retaining the title."

Zanetti insisted Inter were looking no further than Livorno and would not be distracted by next week's crunch Champions League match away to Valencia, who held the Italians to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their last 16 tie.

"Our minds are fixed on Livorno as we want to bounce straight back in the championship," said the 33-year-old Argentine defender.

"It's an important match and we will not take it lightly. After Livorno we will think about Valencia."

Inter's dynamic French midfielder Patrick Vieira, still recovering from a torn right hamstring, will not play at the weekend and is highly unlikely to face the Spaniards.

Brazilian striker Adriano strained his left thigh against Udinese and is doubtful for both matches.

Inter's draw on Wednesday can hardly been seen as a crisis.

The club have not lost a match in all competitions since September 27, 2006 when they lost 2-0 at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League. And their last league defeat was way back on March 30 of last a year, a 1-0 loss at Empoli.

Roma, also playing on Saturday due to their Champions League involvement the following Tuesday, visit bottom club Ascoli.

With an eight-point lead over third-placed Palermo, Roma remain firm favourites to take the second automatic Champions league place for next season.

Ascoli have won just two games all season and look set for the drop to Serie B.

AC Milan, whose push for a top-four finish was stalled by a goalless draw at Palermo on Wednesday, host Chievo on Saturday.

Milan's draw in Sicily left them in sixth place on 37 points, one behind Empoli and three adrift of fourth-placed Lazio.

On Sunday Empoli travel to Udinese, while Lazio will be looking for their fourth successive victory when they entertain Sampdoria.