Lewis Ferguson and Scott McTominay suffer double injury setback as Bologna deal Serie A title blow to Napoli

Lewis Ferguson and Scott McTominay both suffered injury setbacks as the battle of the Serie A Scots ended all square on Monday night.

Ferguson was named in the Bologna starting line-up for the match against Napoli at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara but was forced to pull out just minutes before kick-off after picking up an injury during the warm-up.

The game finished in a 1-1 draw with McTominay returning to the Napoli starting XI after missing last week's win over AC Milan due to illness. Billy Gilmour's run of five consecutive starts for Antonio Conte's side came to an end as he dropped to the bench to accommodate the return of McTominay before replacing his Scotland team-mate on the 70-minute mark, who was forced off after taking a "knock to his thigh and his side", Napoli assistant Cristian Stellini confirmed afterwards.

Scott McTominay of Napoli competes for the ball against Sam Beukema of Bologna. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Any Tartan Army followers tuning into the match would have been disappointed to find that only one Scot out of a possible three took to the field for the start of the match following Ferguson's late withdrawal.

Bologna confirmed on their social media account that the former Aberdeen midfielder's place in the team had been taken by Michel Aebischer, the Switzerland international.

According to reports in Italy, Ferguson complained of a pain in his right thigh and a decision was taken not to risk him. Instead of being removed from the matchday squad altogether, the Bologna captain dropped to the bench, where he remained for the full 90 minutes.

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke will hope that the 25-year-old's injury is not a serious one after Ferguson only made his return to international duty last month following a a year-long injury absence.

Lewis Ferguson was forced out of the Bologna starting line-up before kick-off against Napoli. (Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Ferguson ruptured his cruciate ligament injury in April last year which saw him miss Euro 2024 and the Nations League campaign before making his Scotland comeback in the Nations League play-off fixtures against Greece.

Ferguson watched from the sidelines as Bologna fell behind in the 18th minute to a Frank Anguissa strike for Napoli but the dominant hosts earned a deserved point thanks to Dan Ndoye's 64th minute equaliser. McTominay, who came close to scoring with a shot from outside the area, was then forced off with Gilmour taking his place for the final 20 minutes.

The draw was a blow to Napoli's Serie A title hopes as they missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Inter Milan, who remain three points clear after being held to a 2-2 draw at lowly Parma on Saturday. Bologna, who had won their previous six matches in all competitions, also missed out on the chance to leapfrog Atalanta into third place.