Paulo Fonseca believes Milan's early-season rhythm has been disrupted following the late postponement of their Serie A fixture at Bologna last weekend. (More Football News)
The match, scheduled to take place at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Saturday, was postponed 24 hours before kick-off after heavy rain and flooding in the region.
After failing to win their first three league matches, Milan have since taken 12 points from their next five games, propelling them up the standings after a difficult start.
But with the Rossoneri not in action over the weekend, they dropped to eighth in the Serie A table ahead of facing leaders Napoli on Tuesday.
"It was tricky to manage this moment. On the eve of the game, we trained without knowing whether we’d play or not the following day," Fonseca said.
"We wanted to play, and I think we’ve been affected by not playing in this match."
Napoli come into the game on the back of a 1-0 triumph over Lecce, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo's 73rd minute strike sealing a seventh win of the campaign.
Antonio Conte's side are now unbeaten in their last eight league games, their best run since a run of eight straight wins in February 2023 under Luciano Spalletti.
They have also kept five clean sheets in their last six games, as many as in their previous 34 Serie A matches.
"As the table shows, Napoli are a strong team at a good moment. They are the table leaders and will be motivated to face us," Fonseca said.
"We are also motivated to play this match against a very strong team that has won games comfortably."
Milan, however, have won just one of their last nine meetings against Napoli when the fixture has been played in the first half of a Serie A campaign (D2 L6).
Despite his side's league position after nine games so far, Fonseca believes Milan can win a 20th Scudetto title under his guidance.
"The fans must believe because we are a strong team and we are improving. We think we can fight for the Scudetto," he said.
