Allegri promises Lucca minutes and defends a goal-shy Højlund

"Lucca will definitely get chances to play." Allegri spent most of his press conference before Monza-Napoli talking about his forwards, not his ban. The match is on Wednesday 28 October at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 15:45 ET) at the U-Power Stadium.

The trouble is that the coach and the club are pulling in different directions. Lucca cost €35m, and Napoli are already open to selling him in January, probably on loan. Nobody asked the obvious question: what chances does Allegri mean, if the player could be somewhere else in two months? Either the minutes are there to help him play, or they are there to put him in the shop window. Those are not the same thing, and whoever spent that money should tell us which it is.

Højlund: chances, but no goals

Allegri was even firmer in defending Højlund. "He is in very good physical shape, now he lasts the whole match, he doesn't fade at the 60th minute, he had three big chances the other day and he did well."

Against Roma the goals came from Anguissa and from McTominay, who scored twice. The striker's three chances stayed chances in a 3-3 draw. Højlund has two goals this season, has not scored since 5 September, and cost around €50m. That he can last 90 minutes is useful for the staff. What matters to us is the ball going in, and it has not for almost two months.

On the rest of the squad, Allegri said players would find their sharpness by playing. Anguissa, he said, "has been rested since last season, he played little". Rrahmani, back in training after the flu that kept him out against Roma, "also had many months out".

Rrahmani is the one who matters most. With him on the pitch Napoli concede between 0.69 and 0.72 goals a game; without him, about 1.7. The defence has let in 17 in 11 matches, seven in the last three, and Badiashile and Spinazzola are both missing at Monza. Allegri said the team needs to be good and have "a bit of luck". Luck is not a plan for a back line this short.

"The biggest regret isn't the ban, it's that we didn't take the three points after a good game."

He had already said his piece on the ban, joking about getting four matches instead of two. But he added: "The biggest regret isn't the ban, it's that we didn't take the three points after a good game." Good until 2-0, we would add. Then came the third comeback Napoli have conceded in a few weeks. After the Roma game Allegri himself admitted that "we've let teams come back on us many times".

Landucci will be on the bench at Monza and in Turin on Sunday 1 November. "Whoever goes will do much better than me, I have a very good staff."

Napoli go into the game tenth on 11 points, seven behind third-placed Roma. Juric's Monza have 7 points and sit 15th, with five defeats in eight games. After that come Juventus on Sunday and Porto on Wednesday 4 November.

Monza will put Allegri's words on Lucca and Højlund to an immediate test.