The Brazilian striker alleged that he went down with flu, and thus missed Tuesday's training session and trained solely on Wednesday.

The Portuguese tactician said he would have named the 26-year-old in the squad if the latter had trained regularly as scheduled.

"Without the flu, Adriano would have played. I wasn't angry that he had a fever on Tuesday," Mourinho was quoted by Calcio Italia as saying.

The Chelsea former boss reiterated that his disagreements with the out-of sorts forward is not personal.

"My personal relationship with him is good. Professionally he is the same as the others and he needs to train every day and turn up on time.

"He didn't train on Tuesday and on Wednesday he trained on his own, so Thursday was the first session with the rest of the group. He was 100 per cent today, but that isn't enough for me."

The controversial manager first fell down with the beleaguered striker when he hung out with compatriot Ronaldinho till after midnight, and ever since the player hasn't settled down.

Palermo's Interest

Meanwhile, Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini believes Adriano would revive his glory days if he joined Sicily on loan.

"The Brazilian is like a free bird who causes trouble when you put him in the cage, but he would be great with us," he said.

"He hasn't become accustomed to football at Inter and I would certainly take him on loan if Moratti allows it.

"I could have signed him in 2001, but Inter snapped him up. I think he would do well here and find more space. After all, look at Antonio Cassano at Sampdoria."

However, the Nerazzurri president Massimo Moratti ended Zamparini's hopes when he played down suggestions linking Adriano with an imminent exit from the Nerazzurri.

"Adriano is a great lad and a great player, even if he can be a bit fragile at times," he stated.

"He just needs to show his potential because we all know what he can do."