No return date for Barnes yet, says Rodgers

HARVEY Barnes remains sidelined with a knee injury with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers unable to put a timescale on his return, writes Jordan Blackwell.

Barnes limped off during City’s final pre-season friendly against Sevilla after aggravating a knee issue that required two operations last year.

While Rodgers initially expected the winger to be fine, he missed out on the opening game of the season last weekend.

And he will not feature against Arsenal tomorrow either as City head to the Emirates Stadium for their first away game of the season.

As things stand, Rodgers does not know when Barnes will return.

He told yesterday’s press conference: “(Barnes) has been with the medical team and still has an irritation around the knee, so I don’t have an exact time on that.”

Barnes’ injury prompted Rodgers to ditch the formation he had used in pre-season for the game against Brentford, changing to a back three.

The good news is that he will be able to put out an unchanged side if he wants to, with no fresh injuries to report.

Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) are the only other players unavailable.

But Rodgers may not be able to get away with only using one substitute again, as he did against Brentford.

Temperatures are set to hit the mid-30s tomorrow afternoon in London, providing an extra physical challenge for the players.

Mid-half water breaks have been confirmed by the Premier League, and dealing with the heat will be key to determining who comes out on top.

Rodgers, below, said: “The heat will always have a bearing on the intensity of the game. “Looking after the ball is very important as well.

“We’ve been training in it, and the players have worked so well this week. “Over the course of 90 minutes, it does have an impact. “You have to deal with these situations when they arise.”