Napoli claim Scott McTominay season first as Scotland teammate suffers amid late Serie A drama

McTominay was posted missing from Gli Azzurri line-up for the fourth match in succession having been sidelined since aggrevating an injury in the 3-2 win over Genoa on February 7.

Napoli are exercising caution over their talismanic midfielder as he continues to struggle with tendon inflammation between his hamstring and groin that has prevented him from training at full intensity.

Reports in Italy suggest he could return against Torino on Friday and Scotland head coach Steve Clarke will be hoping to have the 29-year-old back fit and available in plenty time ahead of the upcoming friendlies against Japan and Ivory Coast at the end of March which will kickstart preparations for the World Cup this summer.

Napoli have struggled without McTominay - failing to win any of the four previous matches he had missed this term including a 1-0 defeat to Torino back in October when he sat out one match with an ankle strain.

They finally put that to rest in Verona as Romelu Lukaku stepped off the bench to score a crucial 95th minute winner after Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro had cancelled out Rasmus Hojlund's early opener for the visitors.

Napoli are 14 points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan and effectively out of the race to retain their title but the victory keeps them third in the table and firmly in the hunt for a Champions League place.

McTominay may have been absent but there were still two Scotland internationals on the pitch at the Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium.

Kieron Bowie played the full 90 minutes for Verona but is still searching for his first goal in Italian football after coming agonisingly close to putting the hosts in front only a few minutes before Lukaku struck.

The former Hibs man - who earned the Easter Road club a £7million transfer fee in January - got on the end of a deep cross that was missed at the back post by Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret but on the stretch, and from a tight angle, he was unable to turn the ball on target as it trickled across the face of the empty goal.

To make matters worse, Bowie was the man marking Lukaku in the Verona box just moments later as the Belgium international held off the attentions of the young Fifer to slot home the winning goal.

The result was another blow to Verona's hopes of avoiding relegation. They now sit bottom of the table, nine points adrift of safety with 11 fixtures left, having played a game more than the teams they need to catch.

Billy Gilmour stepped off the bench for Napoli alongside Lukaku in the 73rd minute and received praise in one Italian report for bringing energy and impetus to his team in the closing stages.

It was the 24-year-old's second substitute appearance since making his comeback from nearly four months out due to a groin injury having also featured off the bench in the 2-2 Serie A draw against Roma on February 15.