Lobotka has left ankle injury but Napoli give no return date

Stanislav Lobotka has suffered a contusion and sprain to his left ankle. Napoli announced the diagnosis after the Slovak's initial scans. The club confirmed the problem is in the ankle but said nothing about how long he will be out.

The missing timescale matters because of the fixture list. Napoli face Juventus at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday 1 November at 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET). On Wednesday 4 November they travel to Porto in the Champions League, with kick-off at 21:00 CET at the Estádio do Dragão. On Sunday 8 November at 12:30 CET, second-placed Lazio come to the Maradona. That is three matches in a week, and Napoli do not yet know how many of them their playmaker will be available for.

A treatment room that never empties

Lobotka joins an already long injury list. Neres has a tear in his right semimembranosus, one of the hamstring muscles, and will miss both Juventus and Porto. Badiashile is out with a moderate tear in his right rectus femoris (a thigh muscle). Spinazzola has a low-grade tear in his right biceps femoris (a hamstring muscle). Buongiorno has had knee surgery on his meniscus and is expected back in January.

Favasuli should return for the Torino match on Saturday 21 November, and Alisson Santos for Sassuolo on Sunday 29 November. There is at least some good news in midfield. Vergara returned to the squad on Wednesday 28 October after the injury he picked up with Italy against Turkey.

The transfer market offers no way out. The summer window closed on 1 September and the winter window does not open until 2 January. Until then Napoli can sign only free agents, so the players already at the club will have to do. That brings back a question the city has been asking for weeks: is the squad built in the summer deep enough to cope with Serie A and the Champions League while the injuries keep coming? The answer comes now, not in January.

Fragile balance

The injury also comes at a bad moment. Napoli are sixth on 14 points after nine matches and have gone three games unbeaten: 4-3 against Bodø/Glimt, 3-3 with Roma and the 4-1 at Monza. But they have already conceded 11 goals, three of them to Roma at the Maradona.

Højlund, Politano, Rafa Marín and De Bruyne scored at Monza, but Varela's goal had made it 1-1 in the 43rd minute. This team's balance is fragile. Losing the player who sets the tempo in midfield could make it more fragile still.

The race for fourth place is at stake. Como are fourth on 20 points, six ahead of Napoli, while Lazio and Inter lead the table on 25. Landucci will again be on the bench in Turin, as Allegri serves the second match of his ban. He will decide who plays at the base of midfield, and further tests on Lobotka's ankle will help decide it.

The club has given the diagnosis. What Napoli need now is a timescale, and Sunday night is close.