Allegri positive on Pato injury

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri is hopeful that Alexandre Pato will be fit to face Novara in Serie A this weekend.

The 22-year-old Brazilian picked up a back problem against Attilio Tesser’s men in the Coppa Italia round of 16 on Wednesday night, which Milan won 2-1 thanks to his winner in extra time.

The victory booked a clash with Lazio in the quarter-finals, but Allegri revealed that the forward had suffered an injury during the game.

“Pato felt some pain in his lower back and the medical staff will look at him tomorrow (Thursday),” he said.

“We play against Novara again on Sunday but we have time to rest.”

Allegri was buoyed by the character shown by his side and also the performances of the returning Alexander Merkel and Stephan El Shaarawy, who scored the Rossoneri’s opener.

“I was disappointed that we had to play 120 minutes of football,” he said.

“We could have closed the game out earlier but the players did well to get through it in the best way possible. Winning the way we did will help the team.”

“Merkel had a good game. El Shaarawy played well and has grown a lot, especially in the last two months and he’ll definitely do well.”