Tielemans injury big blow for City
BELGIAN MISSES CHELSEA CLASH AND RULED OUT FOR ‘FEW WEEKS’
YOURI Tielemans has been ruled out of Leicester City’s Premier League clash with Chelsea tomorrow – and the midfielder is set to miss “a few weeks” through injury.
Tielemans was substituted with a calf issue in City’s last game before the international break, a 1-1 draw with Leeds, and that prompted him to withdraw from Belgium duty.
Despite a fortnight to recover, Tielemans still faces time on the sidelines and won’t be available at the weekend.
It will be the first Premier League match he has missed since December 2019, and he will lose his crown as the outfield player with the longest run of consecutive appearances in the division.
“Most of the guys have come back okay,” manager Brendan Rodgers said when asked for a fitness update on his squad.
“We had the issue with Youri before he left, so that puts him out for a few weeks.
“Apart from that, the players have trained well and worked well since they came back. We’re fit and healthy otherwise.” Beyond Tielemans, City only have two absentees in defenders James Justin, below, and Wesley Fofana, albeit both are progressing well, and with the former set to feature in an Under-23s game in the near future.
That means Marc Albrighton is available again after a month out with a leg injury he sustained in the 4-3 win over Spartak Moscow.
“Marc’s been back training so that’s really good news,” Rodgers added.
“JJ has looked really good in training but it’s too early for him.
“We want to get him minutes with the Under-23s and we have a plan in place for that.
“He’s looking so good in training. He’s physically very strong, he’s a natural athlete, but he’s worked ever so hard during his rehabilitation.
“We are seeing the rewards of that. We see him in training and he’s been first class. But we’ve just got to make sure with him.
“There’s a still a lot of the season to go and we just want to make sure he’s fit and ready before he goes into some game-time. “I’m not sure of the exact date (for Fofana), but I was just watching him doing his rehab on the field and he was moving really well with our medical and sports science team.
“He’s building up his fitness and he’s building up his contact with the ball.
“It’s just about that progression. It’s great news as he’s way ahead of where we thought he’d be. He’s devoted everything into his rehabilitation. “Initially we were thinking (he would return) in the early part of the new year, in January, and it still might be that, he’s still got a way to go, but he’s doing very well.”