Cagliari coach Walter Mazzarri has revealed that full-back Dalbert, on loan from Inter, has recovered from injury and will be part of his squad for today’s match against Sassuolo.
The Brazilian moved to Sardinia on loan in the summer after failing to establish himself at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza but has endured an injury-hit start to life with the Isolani.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference yesterday, and as reported by Cagliari’s official website, Mazzarri confirmed that Dalbert and former Inter winger Keita Balde were fit enough to travel to Reggio Emilio for the match against Sassuolo.
“Bringing important players back is a positive thing, also to cement the group on a psychological level. Dalbert will come with us, I will put him on the bench but he still needs to train to feel at his best,” Mazzarri announced.
“Keita has trained with us for 15 days, he doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs but having him back gives me greater options.”
However, the former Inter and Napoli coached expressed his frustration at not having a full squad available to prepare for the game, with players returning from international duty at different times throughout the week.
“The guys I had at my disposal last Sunday played a friendly with some players from the Primavera and certainly benefited from the game,” he continued.
“Unfortunately it is not easy to prepare for a game when the players come back one at a time; for example, the Uruguayans had a training session on Friday, tired from their journeys, and then returned to the pitch today, close to the match. It’s not possible to try new tactics without the whole group.”
Cagliari are currently rooted to the foot of the Serie A table, but Mazzarri insisted that he didn’t focus on that and took each match as it came.
“I’ve never done tables, I’ve always thought game by game. We will have to go out on the pitch thinking that Sassuolo are the best team in the league, face them fiercely in defence, work hard to score, and show organisation.
“I think the team are tired of not picking up points. You have to put in good performances when possible and get good results,” he concluded.
