Napoli boss Walter Mazzarri admits he dropped Ezequiel Lavezzi for their win over Palermo.

Lavezzi was left on the bench again in favour of Goran Pandev and it no longer appears to be an issue of fitness after an injury.

"A Coach makes technical decisions," replied Mazzarri. "He was injured, hasn't trained much and I chose Pandev because he is in great form.

"Lavezzi is improving, but there are so few games to go and we cannot afford a single slip-up. I spoke to Lavezzi yesterday and explained many things, so I hope he understood.

"The team is the most important thing and he has to accept that right now Pandev is in better shape."