Adedokun Waliyu 
Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi is unsure about the availability of defenders Stefan de Vrij and Matteo Darmian for Monday’s Serie A game against promoted side Como at the San Siro.
Champions Inter are third in the league with 34 points from 15 games, their only league defeat coming against AC Milan in September. They trail leaders Napoli by four points, with two games in hand, and sit three points behind Atalanta.
Inter are already grappling with the absences of Francesco Acerbi and Benjamin Pavard, though their defensive issues were eased by Alessandro Bastoni, De Vrij, Darmian and Yann Bisseck, who have solidified their place in the back line.
Both Pavard and Acerbi have dealt with hamstring injuries this season. Acerbi returned briefly last month, playing against Napoli and Hellas Verona, but has missed Inter’s last five games, while Pavard has also been out since the start of December.
“We’re dealing with a few absences in defence. Pavard and Acerbi are unavailable, and today De Vrij and Darmian also had issues,” Inzaghi told reporters on Sunday.
“We will evaluate with the medical staff in the morning to see if they’re fit; as of now, they’re not. But we’re hopeful we can ask them to make some sacrifices.
“At present, we hope to have Acerbi and Pavard return as soon as possible.”
Inter’s opponents, Como, led by former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, beat Atalanta away and Verona at home in September, before enduring a nine-match winless streak. They snapped the run with a 2-0 victory over AS Roma last week.
“I like Fabregas a lot. His principles are clear, and his team plays high-quality football,” Inzaghi said.
“I already followed him in Serie B last year and this year in Serie A, they’ve competed strongly against top teams. Como is a side with great quality and always plays to win.”
Inzaghi said that his side are looking to end their Scudetto-winning year on a high. “We’re seeing the difficulty of a league where all the teams are running and there’s a lot of competition,” the 48-year-old Italian added.
“We know we’ll have to step up because next year won’t be like this year, it will be a different battle.”
