Benitez irked by injury questions

Inter Milan coach Rafael Benitez reacted angrily on Saturday to questions about his training methods ahead of Sunday’s clash with Parma at the San Siro.

Inter have suffered from injury problems to many players this season and Benitez’s training methods have been brought into question on repeated occasions by the Italian press.

And the Spaniard finally snapped on Saturday as he hit back at another question about his training.

“I came to Italy to work, I respect everyone but if continually for a week, two weeks, three weeks, a month you’re going to keep talking about the same things, then I will reply that we have the right experience and we know what we’re doing because we’ve been doing it for many years,” he said.

“I’m always reading in the newspapers about Inter’s injuries but very little is written about the others.”

Inter have had many injuries and their league form in particular has suffered as they have dropped to sixth in the table and nine points behind leaders and arch city rivals AC Milan.

Italian media had claimed Benitez’s job was at risk if the club didn’t beat FC Twente in the Champions League in midweek but following a 1-0 victory which qualified them for the knock-out stages, the former Liverpool and Valencia boss insists he was never worried.

“Winning on Wednesday was very important for us so we could concentrate a bit more on the league and the Club World Cup,” he said.

“This success has helped our mentality but I’ve always worked calmly.”

With Samuel Eto’o suspended following his headbutt last weekend against Chievo and Diego Milito and Coutinho both injured, Benitez may hand a full debut to Romanian teenager Denis Alibec.

As he also has Jonathan Biabiany and Goran Pandev at his disposal, Benitez didn’t say he would be starting with the 19-year-old but did suggest he will have a part to play having made his debut as a substitute last weekend.

“Alibec maybe has less experience than the other two but he’s doing really well, he scored three goals in training today,” siad the Spaniard.