Derby hopes diminsh for midfield trio

Inter Milan’s hopes of patching up an injured midfield trio ahead of Sunday’s crucial top of the table derby took a dent on Thursday as none of them trained.

Brazilian Thiago Motta, Ghana’s Muntari Sulley and Dejan Stankovic of Serbia all spent the morning in the physiotherapy room due to muscle problems that could see them miss the clash against AC Milan.

If they do all miss the game it would leave coach Jose Mourinho with a major midfield headache, leaving him only two recognised midfielders in Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso.

He would then be forced into playing an attacking formation including four forwards with playmaker Wesley Sneijder dropping back into midfield and Mario Balotelli and Goran Pandev flanking Diego Milito in a three-pronged attack.

The Portuguese boss has responded by calling up five youth team players to train with the first team squad these past three days: midifelders Sebastian Carlsen, Lorenzo Crisetig and Alen Stevanovic, as well as defenders Giulio Donati and Felice Natalino.

Inter also announced Thursday that the game, in which they are the nominal hosts at the San Siro ground they share with Milan, is a sell-out and no tickets will be on sale the day of the match.

Milan are not without their own injury problems as striker Pato and full-back Gianluca Zambrotta are both definitely out while centre-back Alessandro Nesta faces a race against time to be fit.

Both teams are in fine form with Milan having won 10 and drawn one of their last 12 league games while Inter have won 10 and drawn three of their last 14 in Serie A.