Napoli look to make inroads

Napoli travel to Chievo Verona on Wednesday with the chance to cut AC Milan’s lead atop the Serie A to just two points.

Walter Mazzarri’s side enjoyed a 4-0 win over Sampdoria at San Paolo on Sunday, and have added two key signings during the January transfer window – striker Giuseppe Mascara from Catania and defender Victor Ruiz from Espanyol.

Mazzarri is excited by what the two new additions will bring to his squad.

“Ruiz is a young player who represents an investment for the future. He will be evaluated over time,” Mazzarri said.

“As we have many matches and hope to be competing for all competitions for as long as possible, Mascara is an expert player who has already played in Serie A.”

“If forward players are missing he has the skills to substitute at least two of them.”

With Chievo unbeaten in their past four Serie A matches and 3-0 winners over Brescia in their last start, Mazzarri is wary of the threat they pose.

“We should be extra careful of (former Napoli defender Mariano) Bogliacino as well, who we would have preferred to keep, but he decided to play with more continuity,” he said.

“He has great skills. The whole team is producing important performances in this championship, for example in the match against Brescia.”

Although he will be without Mascara and Argentine striker Ezequiel Lavezzi through suspension, Mazzarri insists the strength of his squad will make them tough to beat.

“This team has proved that it can achieve a good result even if they are without Lavezzi, thanks to the organisation and all different elements in our team,” he said.

“This is our great hope which should also be our great strength. We have many matches to play and we’ll be playing them as if they are finals. The next one is against Chievo and we won’t be thinking about anything beyond this match.”