El Shaawary confident Italy can get the job done

ROME (Reuters) – Italy are looking to confirm their place at Euro 2016 when they meet Azerbaijan in Baku on Saturday, but will have to do so without one of Serie A’s most in-form players following the withdrawal of Lorenzo Insigne.

The Napoli forward has impressed so far this season, and currently sits second in the Serie A scoring charts having scored five goals in seven matches.

He scored twice during Napoli’s 4-0 away victory over AC Milan on Sunday, but hurt his right knee and will be missing for Saturday’s Group H meeting.

In Insigne’s place, coach Antonio Conte has called up Milan’s Giacomo Bonaventura, although AS Monaco forward Stephan El Shaarawy may emerge as the man to replace the injured Insigne.

“It’s a shame he has had to leave, because he was in top form,” El Shaawary told reporters at a pre-match media briefing.

“Nevertheless, it’s important not to be dependent on just one player but to have strength throughout the team. We have plenty of quality players and we have faith in them.”

Italy have shown a lack of attacking cohesion in recent matches, scoring only four goals in their last five fixtures, but El Shaawary is confident that he can help Italy overcome Azerbaijan, despite not finding the net for Monaco in Ligue 1 yet this season.

“I know the manager has faith in me and I want to thank him for that,” the striker continued. “It’s an important match for us, we know we can secure qualification with a win and we are preparing well.”

While young forward Domenico Berardi has also had to pull out of the squad, the likes of Simone Zaza, Eder, Sebastian Giovinco, Graziano Pelle, and Fabio Quagliarella provide Conte with diverse attacking options.

After eight matches, Italy are top of Group H with 18 points, two ahead of Norway in second and four ahead of Croatia.

Victory over Azerbaijan would confirm their place at Euro 2016, while failure to secure three points may require Conte’s side, who are unbeaten in 38 competitive home games, to secure a result in their final fixture against Norway in Rome on Tuesday.

Azerbaijan are out of the running with six points and are not expected to trouble the Italians unduly, but as they showed when they lost 2-1 in Italy, they are unlikely to be a pushover either.

(Reporting by Ed Dove, Editing by Mike Collett)