League Cup tie to be called off following tragic events at King Power Stadium

LEICESTER CITY’S League Cup tie with Southampton will be postponed after the tragic events at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Claude Puel was due to face his former club at home tomorrow, but the fourth-round tie is set to be called off after talks between the two clubs and the English Football League.

An official statement on the cancellation is expected to be made in the next 24 hours.

Many of Leicester’s players were scheduled to train yesterday morning, but the session was cancelled. Leicester also postponed their Women’s Championship and reserve matches, which were due to take place yesterday.

Puel expressed his sadness after the incident and moved to reassure those that may have been worried he was on board the helicopter.

“It’s a tragedy for the club,” he told Radio France.

“I think very strongly about the victims and their families, and I wanted to reassure everyone who cares about me, I’m terribly sad but I’m fine.”

Events

It seems wrong to dwell on Saturday evening’s match, with events on the field paling into insignificance after the tragedy which followed an hour later.

But records will show that the game ended in a 1-1 draw after Wilfred Ndidi’s deflected goal a minute from time secured Leicester a point.

West Ham had taken the lead through defender Fabian Balbuena, before captain Mark Noble was sent off late in the first half for a foul on Ndidi.

He is facing a three-match suspension for violent conduct.

Puel dropped Jamie Vardy to the bench and introduced him at the start of the second half, but it was not until a minute from time that the home team made the breakthrough.

Leicester’s Daniel Amartey was carried off on a stretcher with a suspected broken ankle in added time after appearing to catch his studs in the turf.

There are fears that Amartey, a Ghana international, will miss the remainder of the season.

Ben Chilwell, the England and Leicester defender, said: “It didn’t look great from what I saw. He’s put his body on the line and sacrificed himself to stop a goal.

“It just looked horrible. Hopefully he can recover quickly.” (© Daily Telegraph, London)