Simone Inzaghi is hopeful that defensive duo Matteo Darmian and Stefan de Vrij will be available for Inter's Serie A clash with Como on Monday.
The pair suffered injuries in training ahead of their meeting with Cesc Fabregas' side after making substitutions at the back during an injury crisis for the champions.
Inter also has to do without Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard due to hamstring complaints, but that has not been a problem for the Nerazzurri in recent weeks.
This season, only Napoli, Juventus (both twelve) and Fiorentina (11) have conceded fewer goals than Inter (15), which is third in Serie A.
“We are dealing with some absences in defence. Pavard and Acerbi are not available, and today De Vrij and Darmian also had problems,” Inzaghi told reporters on Sunday.
“We will evaluate with the medical staff tomorrow morning to see if they are fit; This is not yet the case at the moment. But we are hopeful that we can ask them to make some sacrifices.
“At this point we hope that Acerbi and Pavard will return as soon as possible.”
Snapshots from the training session #ForzaInter pic.twitter.com/THF2pOCuru
— Inter (@Inter_en) December 22, 2024
Monday's match will be the first time the two sides have faced each other in Serie A since March 2003, with Inter winning 4-0 under Hector Cuper.
After home wins against Atalanta and Hellas Verona in September, Como endured a nine-match winless streak before beating Roma last time out.
Como are now unbeaten in their last three league games (W1 D2), but have never managed to go four games in a row without defeat in a Serie A season.
And despite being ranked 15th heading into Monday's match, Inzaghi sang his counterpart's praises.
“I like Fabregas very much. His principles are clear and his team plays high-quality football,” Inzaghi said.
“Last year I followed him in Serie B and this year they fought strongly against top teams in Serie A. Como is a team with a lot of quality and always plays to win.”
Inzaghi said his side will want to end their Scudetto-winning year on a high.
“We see the difficulty of a competition where all teams participate and there is a lot of competition,” he added.
“We know we have to go a step further because next year won't be like this year, it will be a different battle.”
Comments