Twas the night before Christmas...

and all through the house
not a creature was stirring
because they were all injured

Just a bit of Christmas cheer to go with your Napoli injury update. It seems spiked eggnog and time curled up on couch in front of a roaring fire could do wonders for some of the partenopei. Too many knocks + heavy match schedule = vital players missing.

The most essential of these is, of course, Marek Hamšík. But word on the street is that our beloved spiky-haired captain will be returning early from his holidays in Slovakia, in order that he can be back in with the squad to face Sampdoria on January 6. Please, Santa, we all promise to be good little boys and girls if you would just bring us a healthy Marekiaro for Christmas...

As for Camilo Zúñiga, he'll be having a shorter holiday than usual as well, but it looks like he's not going to be back in the squad any earlier than January 15, which is when Napoli play Atalanta in the Coppa. Santa, we know we've been a bit critical of Zúñiga in the past, but now that we've been stuck with Pablo Armero, and know that there's a reason no club signed Anthony Réveillère, we'd sure appreciate it if you could stick a big fat bow on Camilo and deliver him soon-ish.

Oh, and then there's the Pepe Reina issue. Santa, Rafael stepped up against Inter Milan, but he's still young, and it's rather scary to think Napoli need to depend on him rather than on Reina. Our final present request would be to have Reina's tests come back to reveal a none-too-serious injury, one that only requires the goalkeeper get some rest and relaxation in.