Ibrahimovic ready to play, says Allegri

Posted Wednesday, September 28, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ready to make his comeback from a groin injury against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League, his AC Milan coach Massimilano Allegri said Tuesday.

Milan host the Czech minnows on Wednesday looking to push on from their positive start in the competition when they came away from the Camp Nou with a 2-2 draw against Barcelona.

And while they may be suffering from an injury crisis in forward positions, they can at least count on the services of the 29-year-old Swede.

"If he trained as he did yesterday (Monday) it's because he's fine," said Allegri.

"We're not so crazy that we would take a risk with him. He's a great player, when he's on the pitch you can feel it.

"Having him in the team is always a great advantage but we still need to assess things."

Although Milan face a crunch Serie A trip to Juventus at the weekend, Allegri doesn't want his players to get ahead of themselves.

"Winning tomorrow (Wednesday) is vital to consolidate the result we got against Barcelona but mostly to put distance between ourselves and the others in the group.

"In such moments the victory is more important than the way you play but we have always played with good technique."

And with Belarussians BATE Borisov in the group as well, Allegri is already thinking about trying to top the group ahead of Barcelona.

"It certainly won't be easy (against Plzen) but a win could give us an extra push," he said.

"It would be important (to win the group) to give us a more manageable opponent in the second round.

"And it's up to us in the next threee games. Our aim is to get to the Barcelona game at the San Siro on equal points.

"But right now we must only think about Viktoria."

For veteran midfielder Clarence Seedorf, who should captain the side on Wednesday unless Massimo Ambrosini makes an unlikey and speedy recovery from a dislocated shoulder, the club need to wipe out the memory of last season's defeat against Tottenham in the second round.

"I've already dried my tears, now we need to earn points to continue what we've achieved up until now," he said.

"The draw with Barcelona gave us an important indication as to how we're progressing.

"It wasn't a display of catenaccio (ultra-defence) but rather a very good defensive performance.

"We have to believe in our own ability while respecting everyone else.

"Over the last few years more modest teams than us have reached the final and we all realise we must do better this year.

"We have the weapons to go a long way."