Injured Milik was not rushed back, says Napoli doctor

Napoli's team doctor has shrugged off suggestions that striker Arkadiusz Milik was rushed back into action following a knee injury sustained last season.

Milik - who missed the majority of 2016/17 after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his left knee, sustained the same injury in his right knee in Napoli's victory over SPAL on Saturday.

And though the Serie A leaders will now be without the former Ajax forward for several months, Alfonso De Nicola has dismissed claims that the Poland international was brought back from his previous injury too soon.

"There was damage to the right knee," De Nicola told Polish website Przeglad Sportowy.

"It must be said that people who conflate the two things are ignorant and don't understand the essence of these things.

"You can't link these two injuries. Unfortunately these things happen in football.

"Unfortunately after a knee injury, some injuries can occur. The previous rehabilitation was done correctly.

"Now he just has to work calmly, the club has a schedule for players with similar injuries and we'll work to that.

"We have experience in this, and it's no coincidence that our players come back fairly quickly. It’ll take a similar time to last year.

"By the end of December, [Milik] should be able to return to the simplest exercises. Before that he'll have to reinforce the knee."