Benitez paying for his mistakes

The Spaniard does not doubt his players' character and heart but he has called on them to hit the ground running in each and every game they play.

Napoli boss Rafael Benitez blamed an initial lack of intensity of his team
for Sunday's 2-2 draw at home to Empoli.

The Partenopei started sluggishly at the San Paolo, allowing Simone Verdi to open the scoring 13 minutes in, after a swift counter-attack from the visitors.

Ragoni doubled Empoli's advantage early in the second half and although Napoli came storming back, with goals from Duvan Zapata and Jonathan de Guzman, Benitez was bitterly frustrated with his side's fourth successive draw in all competitions.

"Drawing at home is always a negative result," the Spaniard told Sky Sport Italia. "We conceded two goals and we must not make these mistakes in defence.

"We managed to come back and, in the end, we could have won. But we are disappointed.

"We have lost two points, which was down to a lack of intensity at the start of the game. 

"The reaction of the team was positive, this shows that the team has character and heart, but I want to see that from us from the start."

Gonzalo Higuain started on the bench against Empoli, with Benitez revealing that the striker had not been fit enough to start.

"Gonzalo had problems in the week," the former Liverpool boss explained. "He had not trained at his best and it was not appropriate to start him."

Napoli next face Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League on Thursday night before resuming their Serie A campaign against AC Milan on Sunday.