Furious Antonio Conte copies Jose Mourinho as McTominay’s absence hurts Napoli

Scott McTominay was forced to miss Napoli’s Coppa Italia quarter-final against Como

Scott McTominay has been hit with an injury and could only watch on as Napoli were eliminated from the Coppa Italia by Como. Manager Antonio Conte vented his anger during the post-match press conference following his team’s penalty shootout defeat.

Como opened the scoring beforehalf-time through a Martin Baturina spot-kick, with Antonio Vergara restoring parity shortly after the restart. The quarter-final tie went straight to penalties, where Romelu Lukaku and Stanislav Lobotka both missed for Napoli, ending their run.

The Serie A outfit were deprived of the impressive McTominay after he sustained an injury during the 3-2 win over Genoa at the weekend. The ex-Manchester United midfielder proved pivotal in Saturday’s success despite going off at the interval, firing home from distance to hand his team a vital advantage.

He was taken off for Giovane, with Conte confirming at the final whistle that the midfielder had sustained an injury. He said: “Scott has been dealing with this problem since the beginning of the year.

READ MORE: Italian media send ‘God save Scott McTominay’ message as Antonio Conte addresses situationREAD MORE: Napoli chief admits concerns over Scott McTominay future after Man Utd return demand

“It’s an inflammation of the tendons in the area between the gluteus maximus and the hamstrings. This discomfort forces him to play at a reduced pace.

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“He would have continued, but at the end of the first half I preferred to avoid any stupid risks. We’re talking about a key player for us, I need him to be 100%. We hope to get him back as soon as possible.”

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Conte was back in front of the cameras following the quarter-final defeat, displaying a far more combative demeanour than he had over the weekend. The Italian boss was highly animated when discussing the match and even made reference to Jose Mourinho’s infamous rant from years ago.

He said: “In two years we won the Scudetto and the Super Cup. So now I’m starting to do this: every time he comes to the press conference I’ll stand like this, make the two with my fingers and then list the teams that have won, as one coach used to say, zero titles.”

Conte then held up two fingers on one hand and formed a circle with the other, symbolising his recent Serie A triumphs with two major titles.

The Napoli manager commended his team despite the loss and emphasised just how crucial McTominay is to his squad. He said: “I credit the lads, because it was certainly not easy to face a Como side with a full squad available, who had rested for 10 days.

“We were coming off a game played against Genoa three days ago, which we ended with 10 men and lost another player to injury, as Scott McTominay is so important for us.”

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