Conte Voices Support For Under-Fire Davids
Thursday 28th February 2002
Juventus veteran Antonio Conte has leapt to the defence of under-fire midfielder Edgar Davids following his midweek sending off against Deportivo La Coruna.
Wednesday's dismissal was the latest in a long line of incidents that has blighted Davids' campaign. Earlier in the season he was sent off two times before losing his place in the side.
More recently he was accused of assault by an ex-girlfriend and faces police questioning over the matter.
Following clear the air talks in the wake of Wednesday's loss to Deportivo, Davids apologised to his team-mates for his latest indiscretion, prompting former skipper Conte to express his support for him.
"Davids understands he made a big mistake but I think the referee was far too hard on him," he said. "I think he deserved a yellow card. Juventus needs Davids because he is far too important for us."
Conte went on to admit that the gruelling Serie A and Champions' League schedule was taking its toll on the squad and revealed that key defender Paolo Montero is the latest player to join Juve's growing injury-list with knee ligament damage.
He said: "At the beginning of the season we had 23 fit players but now we have just 17. [Igor] Tudor has been injured for a long time and he is a very important player.
"Marcelo Salas is also injured and now Pablo Montero is injured again and he will be out for over a month."
The defeat leaves Juve with four points from four matches in Group D, three behind joint leaders Arsenal and Deportivo, but Conte insisted there is still much to play for.
"It's not time to be desperate," he said. "We can win anything. We are not out of Champions' League or the Scudetto battle. We have to be focused on our target."
