Jan 31 (Reuters) - Napoli manager Antonio Conte vented his frustrations after his injury-ravaged side were pushed to the limit before securing three Serie A points against Fiorentina on Saturday, warning that the relentless schedule was placing unacceptable demands on his players.
Champions Napoli are struggling with injuries after a hectic run of games with Kevin De Bruyne, David Neres, Billy Gilmour, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Matteo Politano and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic all on the sidelines.
Matters worsened when captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo was carried off in visible agony against Fiorentina with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.
“There’s not much we can say, it’s game upon game upon game, we have to keep using players who ought to be rested and yet can’t, it leads to these situations,” Conte told DAZN.
"I continue to say playing all these matches, it kills the players and kills football. If we have to play 60 games per year, we need a bigger squad, otherwise it’s suicide.”
Conte said Di Lorenzo's injury looked serious.
“The sensation is he’s done serious damage to his knee and it’s the cruciate ligament," he said. "It’s nasty."
“Clubs don’t seem to understand it’s like a dog chasing its own tail. You fight to qualify for all these tournaments to get more money, but it’s ephemeral, because the more competitions you are in, the more players you have to buy, the more the wage bill goes up," Conte added.
The 56-year-old praised his team's performance.
"We are talking about a team trying to do its best with what we have at our disposal. Fortunately, we picked up these points, but if the season had started today and we had this squad, what position do you thinkNapoliwould be challenging for? Be realistic," he said.
“We are managing to plug the holes because these lads are doing extraordinary things. Once again, there weren’t many options on the bench," Conte added. "it’s best we wrap this up or I’ll say something else and get into trouble."
(Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)
