Paulo Dybala's absence was lamented by Jose Mourinho after Roma's Sunday derby loss to Lazio, which ended 1-0.
However, the Portuguese expressed his desire for the Argentina international to make a comeback prior to the World Cup in Qatar.
November 20 will mark the start of the World Cup.
Roger Ibanez made a mistake, which Felipe Anderson took advantage of to help Maurizio Sarri's club defeat their bitter rivals and move up to third in the Serie A standings.
At the Stadio Olimpico, Lazio were without the significant contributions of Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, while Roma only managed two efforts on goal.
They toiled in the absence of Dybala – their top goalscorer with five league goals this season.
“We talked about Milinkovic-Savic and Immobile, we didn’t talk about Dybala,” Mourinho said at a post-match news conference.
“I think he is more important, because he’s the one that assists us with goals. When certain players are missing, we go into difficulty.”
Dybala has been absent since October 9 after sustaining a hamstring injury.
But Mourinho hopes he will return against Torino next Sunday, in what would also be a boost for Argentina ahead of their trip to Qatar.
“Obviously he wants to go to the World Cup, it is difficult to say no to that,” Mourinho said.
“If there is a good evolution of his injury, we hope to have him back on Sunday against Torino.”
Roma have suffered narrow defeats to several of Serie A’s leading lights recently, but Mourinho believes they have not always got what they deserved.
Asked about the Giallorossi’s poor record against top opponents, Mourinho added: “Roma lost those games, in my opinion, undeservedly.
“Atalanta made one shot on goal and won 1-0, Napoli had difficulties like never before and won with a great goal from (Victor) Osimhen, and Lazio won with a half-goal.
“I think the game they played was the consequence of being 1-0 up, in a low block, compact.
“In our cultures, it is said that this was a cynical, intelligent game. In England, people would go home after 20 minutes.
“The playing time was definitely very low, the intensity and continuity of the game was very low. We dominated, but there was a lack of creativity.”
dpa/NAN.