City could be down to eight outfield players
INJURY LIST GROWS AHEAD OF CUP CLASH TODAY
LEICESTER City’s injury nightmare continues to worsen with Brendan Rodgers potentially down to eight fit senior outfield players for today’s FA Cup third round tie against Watford.
Luke Thomas and Boubakary Soumare are the latest players to be ruled out, while there are doubts over Timothy Castagne and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The only outfield players who are fit and definitely available for the match are Jannik Vestergaard, Hamza Choudhury, Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Marc Albrighton, Ademola Lookman and Ayoze Perez.
The latest injuries come after Jamie Vardy and Jonny Evans were both ruled out for extended periods.
The pair, who both have hamstring issues, will have to spend more time on the sidelines than first thought, with Vardy set to be out until March, and Evans unavailable until April following an operation.
Ryan Bertrand was thought to be back in contention, but will now have to visit a specialist following a knee problem.
None of City’s injured players will return this weekend, but James Justin, who will play for the Under-23s at Chelsea today, is closest to returning, while Patson Daka and Caglar Soyuncu may be available for next weekend’s trip to Burnley.
Also out are Wesley Fofana, Ricardo Pereira and Filip Benkovic, as well as the four players currently at the Africa Cup of Nations: Daniel Amartey, Papy Mendy, Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho.
It leaves Rodgers with a threadbare squad with which to start City’s FA Cup defence.
The hammer blows are that two of City’s experienced players,
Vardy and Evans, will be out for longer than first anticipated.
“It could be up to eight weeks (for Vardy),” Rodgers told yesterday’s pre-match press conference.
“It’s the higher end of his hamstring, so you’re looking into March.
“He doesn’t need an operation, that was the only good news.
“Jonny Evans has just had an operation so he will be April. With his hamstring, he’s needed that.”
And with so many players out, what Rodgers really didn’t want was for more to be ruled unavailable, but that is exactly what has happened.
Soumare and Thomas are now out as well, while there are doubts over Dewsbury-Hall and Castagne for today’s game with the Hornets, albeit the latter could raise the number of available outfield players to
nine. “Bouba will be out as well, that takes him out for a little period. He’s not available for selection. It’s illness,” said Rodgers.
“Luke’s not available, no. Castagne is a question mark at the moment.
“Tim, we’ve got to wait and see. He hasn’t trained, he came in today and we had a look at him. He should be okay.
“Then there’s a doubt around Kiernan. He felt a tightness in his calf.
“He’s played a number of games over the course of the period, so we have to make sure that doesn’t rumble on.”
Last week, Rodgers said he hoped Bertrand would come back into contention after he suffered a twisted knee in the buildup to the defeat to Manchester City, but he continues to be assessed.
Rodgers said: “(Bertrand’s) still not ready. He’s got an ongoing issue with the meniscus in his knee, so he’s getting that looked at by a specialist this morning and then we’ll know more after that.”
There are a couple of glimmers of hope for City thought, not least that Justin will play his first game in 11 months for the club this weekend when he represents the Under-23s in a match against Chelsea.
He has not featured since tearing his cruciate ligament last February.
If he comes through the Under23s game, he may then be in contention for first-team football next week.
Soyuncu and Daka may also be back by then too.
Rodgers added: “JJ will play in an Under-23s tomorrow.
“All being well he will come through that and then we’ll look at it going into next week.
“If we get him back, that’s going to be a huge, huge boost for us.
“He’s a top-class player and it’s been a long road for him. We just have to be careful.
“You’re probably looking towards Burnley for Cags. So it’s good news for that. We’re looking towards Burnley for Daka.”