Napoli hope to halt slide as Inter and Milan turn up the pressure

Jan 29 : After their Champions League exit, Napoli’s season is teetering on the edge - with a mounting injury list and a growing gap to Serie A leaders Inter Milan - but Saturday's home clash against strugglers Fiorentina offers them a chance to steady the ship.

Eliminated from Europe following a 3-2 home defeat by Chelsea on Wednesday, Serie A champions Napoli may benefit from a less gruelling schedule, but coach Antonio Conte is unlikely to see the silver lining with his side dealing with multiple injury absences.

While Conte has recently welcomed Romelu Lukaku back from a long-term injury, Kevin De Bruyne, Billy Gilmour, David Neres, Matteo Politano, Amir Rrahmani, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic are all sidelined.

"I’ve never seen a situation like this anywhere in the world, we have only 13 outfield players available, and Lukaku has at most 15 minutes in his legs," Conte, whose side are nine points adrift of Inter, said.

"These are situations we must face with heads held high, with courage and hunger, trying to play our game without sitting back in defence. We want to understand if we are on the right track and how much distance separates us from that level. We must forget about being Champions of Italy."

Fiorentina, sitting 18th in the table after securing just three league wins, are dealing with their own difficulties, including Moise Kean's reported unavailability due to a hamstring injury.

Inter hold a five-point lead over city rivals AC Milan in second place and Cristian Chivu’s side travel to Cremonese on Sunday.

Cremonese were the early-season surprise package, but have picked up just two league wins since November.

    “The whole team has reached a level of maturity where hard work and