Nikola Kalinic must improve his training standards if he is to return to AC Milan s first-team fold, Gennaro Gattuso has warned.
Croatia striker Kalinic was excluded from Milan s 23-man matchday squad for the hard-earned 3-2 home win over Chievo on Sunday.
Andre Silva and fellow young forward Patrick Cutrone were both on target to further jeopardise Kalinic s hopes of reclaiming his place in attack.
The 30-year-old has only scored four competitive goals since his off-season move from Fiorentina and will need to find another gear to break back into the in-form Serie A side.
The rules are the same for everyone. Whoever doesn t train well stays at home, Gattuso told Premium Sport.
They need to put everything into the two hours of training. I want to see professionalism and commitment on the pitch.
[But] tomorrow is another day and in football you cannot hold a grudge. At this moment I need everyone.
5 have won five Serie A games in a row for the first time since April 2014. Devil.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo)
Milan had to come from behind to see off Chievo at San Siro after two quickfire strikes had overturned Hakan Calhanoglu s early opener.
An impressive second-half recovery saw them improve their league record to eight wins in nine and stay just five points shy of fourth-placed rivals Inter Milan.
However, a trip to Juventus after the international break will make for a stern examination of their progress under Gattuso.
At the moment we can t make mistakes. If we want to fight for a Champions League place, draws don t do us any good, the Rossoneri boss said.
We need to recover our energy and take things one game at a time.
