Roma Carrying Injury Concerns Into Florence

Dries Mertens’ late goal to salvage a draw for Napoli on Sunday certainly hurt. However, the Giallorossi left the Stadio San Paolo with more than their feelings hurt last weekend, after both Daniele De Rossi and Kostas Manolas were forced to leave the match with injuries. Add them to a list that already included Rick Karsdorp, Javier Pastore, Justin Kluivert, and Diego Perotti, and Roma are confronted with a bit of an injury crisis. Luckily, for Roma there aren’t any midweek fixtures this week. However, coming up on Saturday is another tough road test at the Artemio Franchi against Fiorentina. That will be followed by what appears to be a decisive Champions League match in Moscow against CSKA on Tuesday. The Giallorossi need to get healthy. And fast.

Reports out of the trainer’s room today do bring some fairly positive news. Kostas Manolas’ injured quadriceps shows no signs of damage. The Greek will likely try to grit his teeth and play on Saturday in the heart of the Roma defense. Manolas was massive in holding Napoli at bay for the 75’ that he was on the field and would be a big boost at the heart of the defense on Saturday.

Meanwhile, it’s likely that both Javier Pastore and Justin Kluivert will recover by Saturday. According to multiple reports, both players should be able to resume full training with the squad on either Thursday or Friday. This would mean the possibility of both being available for the weekend fixture in Tuscany. It’s unimaginable either would go from the opening whistle, however, they could provide a boost from the bench.

The player Romanisti are most anxious about, De Rossi, will in all likelihood be out against the Viola. However, at this point, De Rossi’s absence isn’t expected to be long. Il Capitano Futuro left the Napoli match late in the first half with a knee issue. He still has pain in the knee, but at this point he plans on trying rehab rather than surgery to remove the cyst that is causing the issue.

If he eventually opts for surgery then it could mean a two month absence. That’s something Roma can ill afford at this point, as De Rossi doesn’t have a natural replacement on the roster in the current two man midfield. On Saturday, EdF will likely have to decide between playing Bryan Cristante in an unnatural role yet again or giving youngster Ante Coric his first start. Meanwhile, Roma fans will wait with bated breath in hopes of having DDR back for CSKA.

The last two players on the injured list, Karsdorp and Perotti, are likely to remain out for yet another week. The two have been dealing with injuries since early in the season and continue to try and find their way back to match fitness.