Maurizio Sarri cast doubt on his Lazio future after a miserable defeat at bottom-of-the-table Salernitana left them well off the pace in Serie A.

The former Chelsea manager couldn’t disguise his frustration after Saturday’s 2-1 loss, which left Lazio in 10th position and seven points off the top four.

‘If I realised that I was the problem, I’d immediately step down,’ said Sarri, who is in his third season in charge of the Roman club.

Sarri’s side are winless in their last three following Saturday’s setback but retain an excellent chance of making the Champions League knockouts, especially if they beat Celtic at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday.

Maurizio Sarri admitted he may be to blame for Lazio’s poor form after a shock defeat

Lazio went down 2-1 at bottom-of-the-table Salernitana on Saturday, making it three winless 

Asked what president Claudio Lotito should do, Sarri replied: ‘If I was him, I would make a strong intervention.

‘I am not a fan in general of training retreats, but something has to be done to break this inertia.

‘The squad has lost character and initiative. After scoring a goal in the first-half, we came back out hoping to control it for 50 minutes. That is not what our characteristics are as a team.’

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Lazio led through Ciro Immobile’s penalty on the stroke of half-time but goals by Grigoris Kastanos and Antonio Candreva earned struggling Salernitana an unexpected win.

Sarri, 64, added: ‘Something clearly isn’t working. If I was certain that I was the problem, then I would immediately step down.

‘I don’t understand how I have been treating them differently to last season. If anything, I think I’m being harder on them.

‘If over the next few days I evaluate and find that it is my fault, I will be the first to take the decision to walk away by speaking to the president.’

After their meeting with Celtic, Lazio host Cagliari in their next league fixture on Saturday.

Sarri raised the possibility of a training retreat for his players to address their sub-par form

The former Chelsea coach guided Lazio to a second-place finish in Serie A last season but a repeat of that achievement looks unlikely