Conte eyeing Napoli changes for Coppa Italia tie against Lazio

Antonio Conte said Napoli's Coppa Italia last-16 draw against Lazio would be used to give some of his fringe players the chance to shine for the Serie A leaders.

Napoli maintained their lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win over Torino on Sunday, with Scott McTominay on target for Gli Azzurri.

Conte's side will not be competing in Europe this season after finishing 10th in Serie A last season, giving them a slight advantage in terms of their Scudetto ambitions this year.

However, having fewer games has meant that part of Napoli's squad has only had a few minutes from the bench, but Conte has so far used the competition to rest his key players.

Napoli has already played two rounds in the cup so far, beating Serie B clubs Modena and Palermo.

“This year in some ways it is a punishment for many players because we only have the league and the Coppa Italia,” Conte told reporters.

“We played two games, the season opener with Modena, then with Palermo there was the opportunity to give space to the players who had less time until then. Tomorrow we will have another clear opportunity to test everyone's growth a bit.”

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Lazio have also started well in Serie A this season, finishing fifth after fourteen games of the season and just four points behind Conte's side in the division.

They are also unbeaten in their last three games against Napoli (W2 D1), and Conte was well aware of the task ahead of his players if they were to reach the quarter-finals.

“We always take it one game at a time, so the most important one is Thursday's,” he added.

“Having said that, I will make choices because there are a lot of players in the squad. We had a good start, but that is not just down to the 12-13 who came along.

“The credit must be shared with the entire squad, those who took over and those who played little or nothing but kept the intensity and competition high in training.”

Conte also took time to respond to Inter president Giuseppe Marotta, who said Napoli are favorites to win Serie A this season.

“The director can say whatever he wants,” Conte said.

But I think that if Inter did not win the Scudetto at the end of the year, he would not be very happy and would not consider the season as a good one.

“They are very focused on us and may not see who could really be the one bothering them.”