AS Roma defender Chris Smalling has taken a swipe at the club's former manager Jose Mourinho by denying claims, he is reluctant to play through the pain barrier.
This is coming after Mourinho was recently sacked by the Giallorossi.
Recall that the 60-year-old was sacked by Roma earlier this week and was replaced by Daniele De Rossi.
Mourinho had claimed Smalling 'holds something back', that there are people 'who are not high-performance athletes who have a greater pain threshold'.
However, after Mourinho was sacked, Smalling moved to set the record straight and clarified he has never looked to leave Roma who helped relaunch his career following a difficult end to his Man United career.
"Let me start by clarifying that I have never asked to, nor even contemplated, leaving this great club," Smalling wrote on Instagram story.
"No footballer wants to spend their days in a treatment room, and this period of time away from my teammates has challenged me, with setback after setback.
"I have, and will always, put the needs of my teammates first, but the absolute priority for the medical team is to guarantee that I can play a significant role in the latter part of the season and for seasons to come."
He added: "Guided only by specialists, I have been open to all solutions, short and long, and any insinuation that I have dictated a treatment plan are false.
"With surgery not an option proposed by any specialist I have engaged with, I have to trust the expertise that guides my recovery plan which, contrary to popular belief, does include painkillers. A lot of them, in fact."
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