Rodgers may not risk a starting role for Maddison
BUT MIDFIELDER LIKELY TO FEATURE IN CUP MATCH
BRENDAN Rodgers could name an unchanged line-up this weekend with the Leicester City manager cautious to rush James Maddison back.
Injuries and suspensions saw Rodgers name a somewhat unorthodox line-up for the trip to West Brom last week, but his players secured a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Maddison played the final 15 minutes of the game, his first action since hip surgery in July, and while he now has another week of training under his belt, Rodgers said ahead of tomorrow night’s clash with Burnley that he is not willing to risk any player who is not 100 per cent ready.
He implied that his number 10 could start when City host Arsenal in the Carabao Cup next week.
“He’s had another week’s training,” said Rodgers.
“He’s been out for a long time, James. “It’s going to be a really long season for us, and it’s not one where we have to rush anyone back at this stage.
“We’ve got a good squad of players. The players we have, we can’t afford to be risking any sort of injury if they’re not ready.
“He’s been progressing really well. We’ll assess that but if he doesn’t start, we have a midweek game, and as we’ve seen, we’ve got a run of games that will see us through to Christmas, so there will be plenty of football for a lot of the players.”
Wes Morgan has had a full week of training too and could be back on the bench, but with Filip Benkovic still injured and Jonny Evans suspended, Wilfred Ndidi may be asked to fill in at centre-back again.
That would see Papy Mendy, Dennis Praet and Youri Tielemans form the midfield three again.
City’s only major long-term injury concern is right-back Ricardo
Pereira, with Rodgers predicting a late October return for the Portuguese international.
“Ricardo is still a period away,” said Rodgers. “You’re looking towards the end of October for him. He’s made great strides. He’s been working tirelessly in the gym, but he’s still quite a way from actually playing.”
WON’T BE RUSHED BACK: James Maddison came on as a substitute in the opening match against West Brom
Predicted line-up (4-1-4-1 formation): Schmeichel; Castagne, Ndidi, Soyuncu, Justin; Mendy; Perez, Tielemans, Praet, Barnes; Vardy.
JAMES Justin is looking to build on his performance at left back in Leicester City’s victory over West Bromwich Albion in their opening Premier League fixture.
Justin switched over to left back in what was a new-look back four for the 3-0 win at The Hawthorns.
“It was a good performance from us,” Justin told LCFC TV.
“More so in the second half, we took a little bit of time to get into our stride in the first half because we hadn’t really played together and you could see us gelling much better in the second half.
“Overall it was a good performance and the gaffer relayed that. [The clean sheet] was a massive thing for us.
“We obviously hadn’t been together as a back four at all, we only had three days to prepare as a lot of us were on international break, but I feel when you’re playing with top players, it’s easier to gel and we definitely did that.”
Timothy Castagne played on the right which meant Justin moving to the left, but the England Under-21 international slotted in seamlessly.
“It’s quite a big difference to be honest,” said Justin. “Your whole game is flipped over, you’re defending with the other foot, you’re passing with the other foot, but it’s definitely something that I can do and hopefully we can see more of it this season.
“I’ve had chats about how comfortable I am at left-back and hopefully I can put in more performances like I did at the weekend to show that.”