Inter coach Walter Mazzarri said his side should have beaten Saint-Etienne on Thursday, but he remained "proud" of the result after his side earned a point in a 1-1 draw in the Europa League.
Dodo put Inter ahead before halftime before Moustapha Bayal Sall's equaliser earned a share of the spoils.
A win in France would have allowed Inter to book a spot in the knockout stage, and Mazzarri said he was disappointed not to come away with the win.
"I'm proud of our match. We played some great football in the first half," Mazzarri told reporters. "We could and should've closed the game, but because of the injury crisis we suffered a bit in the second half.
"But we were a team. We knew how to suffer, and we brought home this important point which puts us on the brink of qualification.
"It's a shame about this draw. If we were a little more careful, we would have got the win. But the lads did very well, so I'm happy with the response that they gave today."
Midfielder Mateo Kovacic agreed that a draw was a fair result after Inter were out-muscled in the second half.
"We did our best in the first half. They, however, did better in the second. A draw was substantially fair," Kovacic said. "It was a tough match because Saint-Etienne are a very strong team physically, but we know that we must do more.
"In the second half, we dropped our level of performance a bit, but we came into the match from a difficult spell, as we've suffered many injuries and the same players are used constantly."
With Inter dealing with a long list of injured players -- Fredy Guarin, Yuto Nagatomo, Hernanes, Hugo Campagnaro, Jonathan and Danilo D'Ambrosio -- Mazzarri gave a start to 17-year-old forward Federico Bonazzoli, while 18-year-old midfielder Andrea Palazzi came off the bench to make his first senior appearance.
"You can see Bonazzoli will have a future in the game if he continues to work hard and be professional," Mazzarri said. "He did very well and played his part in our great first half. Today he helped the team and was very good. He really deserves these compliments. Palazzi also had a good game, and I'm happy for him."