We will welcome back Mahrez, says Albrighton

Leicester are making a renewed plea for Riyad Mahrez to end his self-imposed strike, with the fallout from transfer deadline day threatening to damage their season.

Mahrez has missed three training sessions and two games since his move to Manchester City collapsed, yet Leicester remain hopeful the winger will return to training this week.

Leicester report back tomorrow and officials will make a fresh move to speak with the Algeria international, who remains disillusioned after the club demanded £80million from the Premier League leaders.

He was clearly missed here. As time ebbed away, Leicester were running out of ideas and went direct, launching the ball long in a bid to break Swansea’s resistance.

Marc Albrighton, another Leicester winger, insisted Mahrez will be welcomed back by team-mates when he finally returns. “I’ve seen a few stories saying the players were angry [about Mahrez] and it’s far from the truth. It’s not disrupted us on the training pitch and it’s down to the club to deal with it,” he said.

“I think any time if there’s stuff going on off the pitch it doesn’t help matters. But we as a group that were in the squad trained fantastically and we’ve continued to do what we do.

“Would we welcome Riyad back? Yes. It’s down to us in the meantime to do what we get paid to do and that’s turn up and perform to the best of our ability and try to get maximum points.”

Leicester appeared on course for three points after a dominant firsthalf performance, with Jamie Vardy scoring his 12th league goal of the season.

Swansea could have been blown away but responded impressively in the second half, levelling through captain Federico Fernandez’s header in the 53rd minute. However, their joy at earning a point which lifts them out of the relegation zone was tempered by the news that Leroy Fer and Wilfried Bony will miss the rest of the season through injury.

The club confirmed yesterday that Fer ruptured his Achilles tendon and will undergo surgery, as will Bony after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.