ITALY could turn to Manolo Gabbiadini to help solve their striker problems in their crunch World Cup play-offs against Sweden.

They are seriously short of options upfront and their dilemma has worsened with the news in-form Valencia striker Simone Zaza, the West Ham flop, is nursing a knee injury.

The 26-year-old will travel to Sweden with the rest of the Azzurri squad, the Italian Football Federation announced on its website, but he exacerbated an existing knee complaint during training.

First-choice forwards Andrea Belotti and Ciro Immobile are not fully fit, leaving Italy boss Giampiero Ventura with only Gabbiadini and Inter Milan's Eder as his ready options.

The Azzurri face the Swedes in the first leg in Stockholm tonight, before welcoming them to the San Siro in the second leg on Monday night.

Gabbiadini, who has ten caps for his country, has scored three goals in 12 games for Saints this season and last scored for Italy in a World Cup qualifier win over Lichtenstein in June.