Cristian Chivu admitted Inter had "the wrong approach" in their 3-1 Derby della Madonnina defeat to AC Milan on Saturday.

Inter suffered their first Serie A defeat of the campaign as they were blown away by Milan, who were 2-0 up inside the first 10 minutes thanks to Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot.

Alessandro Bastoni halved the deficit, but Diego Moreira's free-kick just before half-time put Milan in control, and despite second-half dominance, Inter could not recover.

Inter, who slipped to second on goal difference after the defeat, are winless in their previous eight derbies against Milan in all competitions (D2 L6), while they have lost each of the last three in Serie A.

Chivu, meanwhile, is only the third manager to lose his first three derbies in all competitions, following Leonardo (between 2009 and 2011) and Massimo Giacomini (between 1979 and 1980).

"It hurts, it hurts to lose a derby where both we and everyone else had different expectations for what the game represents and what we need to defend," Chivu told Sky Sport Italia.

"We had to improvise considering the situations we had to deal with [a flu bug in the squad], which emerged in the last couple of days. We tried to get someone who was ready to grit their teeth, but it was tough.

"We had the wrong approach, then it wasn't all a waste, because we scored for 2-1 and had the opportunity to draw level at 2-2 if not for that [Mike] Maignan save. Then we gifted another goal just before half-time.

"It's disappointing; we expected to do more than we did. We need to improve our approach and determination, which at times is lacking, and we need to turn the page because there's another important game coming in three days."

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Inter finished the game with 19 shots worth 1.7 expected goals (xG), with four of those Opta-defined 'big' chances. Their opponents, by contrast, had seven shots worth 0.6 xG.

Since the data became available in 2004-05, Mike Maignan is one of only two Milan goalkeepers to make more than six saves (seven) in a Serie A derby against Inter.

They were not helped by the illness sweeping through the squad, which limited Francesco Pio Esposito to a short cameo in the final 10 minutes, while Ange-Yoan Bonny was also in the same boat.

"We were forced to change because Pio Esposito has not been well; Bonny had a fever until [late afternoon] and was vomiting all night, so we had to improvise," revealed Chivu.

"We were also convinced it [the 4-2-3-1 formation] was the right choice, because two players between the lines with two attacking wingers, and Andy Diouf attacking the space, we thought it was the best solution at our disposal.

"Unfortunately, it didn't go well, but we also had some good things; we caused Milan a lot of problems once we stepped up a gear.

"We too have to take the blame for the initial attitude, for our sluggishness when defending. We've got to rediscover the determination we had last season."