AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli admits they're in a "delicate moment" after their 4-0 thrashing by Lazio on Tuesday night.

It was marked their heaviest defeat in almost four years.

Pioli said, "We must quickly get back to Milanello and work better, because clearly we are not putting in the performances up to our capabilities," the coach told DAZN.

“There are many things not working at the moment, there's mentality, tactical issues because we conceded on some situations that we certainly should've read differently.

“I am here talking to you because I have to, because otherwise we should just stay quiet and work hard.

“This is a delicate moment, certainly, as in the last two weeks or so we have not provided good performances or results, so we all need to do better."

Despite it all, Milan remain in second place on the Serie A table.

“Things are not working for us at the moment. Despite not creating great scoring opportunities, we did create some situations where we could've been dangerous," Pioli continued.

“I think the main problem is when we don't have the ball, as there isn't coverage, we aren't sharp and certainly need to communicate better on the pitch. I only know one way to resolve the situation, and that is to work with the players and develop those situations where we are struggling.

“If you look at the first two goals we conceded tonight, we were in the right positions, we just didn't read the moves. The team needs to be more compact and collaborative, as if we continue to make these errors, it starts to affect the mentality of the squad.

“Players know that positive results give you enthusiasm and negative results breed situations that become more difficult to deal with."