Inter Milan head coach Roberto Mancini canceled his players' day off and ordered them to take part in an early morning training session on Easter Sunday after they were held to a 1-1 home draw by bottom club Parma.
Inter confirmed on their website that the first team were called in for training at 8:30am local time, as club vice-president Javier Zanetti and sporting director Piero Ausilio watched on.
Saturday's draw at the San Siro leaves the club joint-ninth with Genoa and 10 points adrift of the European qualification places, with their last Serie A victory coming in the 2-1 win over Cagliari on February 23.
"I'm sorry that the situation, instead of improving, has worsened," Mancini said after the Parma game.
"You always hope that things will change. The last four weeks have been very bad, especially in terms of the results and also because of the second half performance (against Parma).
"These are things that I cannot explain well... We played without bite, without malice and that's something I do not like."
Ausilio also had his say on the situation, claiming Inter's remaining games would help the club make important decisions for next season.
"No rest at Easter? The players have rested the day before the match, so it is right that they train (on Sunday)," he said.
"We are working towards the future and these last nine games will help of all us judge and understand who is an Inter player and who isn't."
But he refused to accept that an impatient San Siro crowd had adversely affected the players.
"If they want to wear this shirt, then they can't fail at San Siro," added Ausilio.
"It's our home, with our public and we shouldn't be afraid of anyone. (San Siro) should be something that is in our favor, we are not going to duck our responsibilities."
