Ranieri Confident Despite Injuries

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri laments the recent injuries to Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, and Mauro Camoranesi, but also believes his team has the strength in depth to cope with the situation.

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Despite the injuries to David Trezeguet, Mauro Camoranesi, and captain Alessandro Del Piero, Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri is confident his team have the strength in depth to make up for those absences.

"This is a good opportunity for those who haven't played much so far to show what they are really worth," he said in today's press conference ahead of the away game against Cagliari tomorrow.

Del Piero and Camoranesi are expected to recover shortly, but Trezeguet may be out for the rest of the year after deciding to undergo a knee operation.

"We were not expecting David's injury, his four-month absence will be difficult to compensate for," Ranieri continued. "He is a hitman and the fact we will have to do without one of our most prolific strikers can become a problem."

A probable replacement for Trez will be new signing Amauri, who has already proved his value with some good performances and he also scored the winning goal last week against Udinese.

"Amauri has matured as a player and he deserves to be at a big club. He has shown he does not struggle in big matches, as he did not get nervous in the Champions League preliminary around or when he came on against Zenit [in Juve's first group stage match]," added the coach.

"He immediately did what I asked of him. He's no longer an apprentice, he's a star in every way now."

Ranieri concluded by talking about the probable formation in tomorrow's match: "I had already decided to rest Camoranesi, Del Piero and Trezeguet against Cagliari, but Christian Poulsen is not at 100% and it will be difficult to replace Camoranesi on the right. We could have done without this latest slew of injuries."

In last season's home game against Juventus, Cagliari lost 3-2 after a hard-fought game. The Sardinian club have lost their first two games and are bottom of the table along with Milan.