DAKA’S PAT ON THE BACK FOR VARDY
LEICESTER v SPARTAK MOSCOW GROUP C, 8pm
PATSON DAKA has thanked Jamie Vardy for his help in making him Leicester City’s record scorer in Europe.
The Zambia forward smashed all four goals last month in a 4-3 away win over Spartak Moscow. And the £23million summer signing from RB Salzburg hopes to terrorise the Russian club again this evening at the King Power Stadium. Daka has hailed the encouragement he has received from veteran Foxes’ title-winner Vardy. “It has been amazing working with him,” said Daka (below). “Being close to him, learning from him – he is a great guy. I was talking to him before I even had my first day here.
“He welcomed me and it was a special moment. I am here to learn from him and work alongside him. I believe there is still a lot more I can learn from him here.”
Daka expects to be closely marked when Spartak, bottom in their Europa League group, visit the east Midlands – but feels his team-mates could take advantage.
He added: “Their focus and attention may be on me but it is a great opportunity for other players in the team. Anyone in our side can hurt them, they won’t know what is going to hit them.
“We are not just excited to be here, we want to go far.”
Brendan Rodgers has Wilfred Ndidi in the squad for the first time since the Nigeria star suffered a hamstring injury in September.
Boss Rodgers feels his side have badly missed their holding midfielder. He said: “We need to cover the space better, and with someone like Wilf in there, he does that. It is great to have him back.” LEICESTER: Schmeichel, Castagne, Evans, Soyuncu, Bertrand, Soumare, Tielemans, Perez, Maddison, Lookman, Daka