Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc has reacted impatiently to continued questioning about Thiago Silva's injury by taking responsibility for it to satisfy the media.
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Silva, 29, is sidelined for around four weeks after suffering a thigh strain during Monday's friendly with Napoli.
The Brazil captain's appearance raised eyebrows, particularly as he had played in PSG's opening Ligue 1 fixture with Reims the previous Friday, and had returned to France barely a week earlier following his post-World Cup break.
Blanc, 48, had insisted Silva had been ready to play against Reims as PSG had sent a fitness coach to Brazil to work with the centre-back from mid-July, and reminded the press the former AC Milan defender had returned similarly quickly last season following the Confederations Cup without any problems.
However, in the face of persistent media questioning on the matter ahead of his team's league encounter with Bastia on Saturday, Blanc moved to end talk on the subject.
He said: "Did Thiago Silva come back too soon? For me, no. But I read the papers. People are talking a lot about this injury, which is causing a real fuss.
"Who's to blame? I will say it's me, like that, you are going to calm down and we won't come back to it. I'm the one to blame. You always need to find one, and you have found it because it's me.
"I sincerely think that if we could have done things differently, we would have, because the main thing is the injury. I'm not happy Thiago Silva is injured. Could we have done things differently? Certainly.
"Last year, we did it, it worked, and no one said anything. If someone is responsible, and my medical staff are highly competent and my technical staff are highly competent, then I take that responsibility. You can rest assured: you have found the one who is to blame, and we won't come back to it, thank you."
Silva is likely to miss several Ligue 1 matches for PSG, but is expected to be fit again in time for the club's first Champions League group match on Sept. 16-17.