Maddison has stepped up in Vardy absence
Newcastle Today, Kick-off 2pm, Live on Sky Sports
v Leicester City
KASPER SCHMEICHEL says James Maddison is filling the void left by Jamie Vardy.
Maddison thumped home to set up a last-gasp victory in the Philips Stadion on Thursday night as the Foxes came from behind to stun PSV Eindhoven in the Europa Conference League quarter-final thanks to Ricardo Pereira’s late winner.
And the Foxes’ shotstopper said Vardy’s absence through a knee injury means others have had to step up – and Maddison is doing exactly that.
Schmeichel said: “When you’re missing someone like Jamie you need goals from everywhere – you take him out of any team and you’d feel it.
“So, it’s good to see everyone chipping in. We need all our players to produce with the injuries we have.
“Ademola Lookman, Ayoze Perez and Patson Daka came on in midweek and made a big difference.
“But when you are behind you need your top players to take control of the game. And Madders is a top player. Everyone knows his quality.
“It’s good to see him producing on a regular basis because we need him. We’re lucky we have so many players who can do that.”
Winning the inaugural Europa Conference League would give Leicester access to the Europa League next season.
But Leicester could still qualify through their league position. They are nine points adrift of eighthplaced Wolves but have games in hand on them and the rest of the tightlybunched pack above.
Schmeichel added: “We aren’t looking too high up the table. The next game is Newcastle.
“But winning is a habit and nights like the one we enjoyed on Thursday can give you momentum.
“It’s tough with the travelling but we’re just happy it didn’t go into extra-time.”
Vardy will again be missing on Tyneside but has undertaken another injection in his knee and told team-mates he expects to return next month.”