Brendan Rodgers faces a double blow as Wilfred Ndidi could miss the rest of the season and his replacement is ineligible for Europe.
Nigerian holding midfielder Ndidi is one of the Foxes’ most crucial stars in the side’s engine room but he hobbled off against Rennes last week with a knee injury in the Europa Conference League clash. He was then absent at the weekend as Leicester beat Brentford 2-1 in the Premier League. Boss Rodgers explained the star,25 signed from Genk for £14million in January 2017, will see a specialist this week to assess his knee with the City boss fearing the worst.
Rodgers admitted: “Wilf is not so good. He is getting a second opinion on that. Whether he will play for the rest of the season or not, we are not quite sure, which is a real shame for us.”
Senegal midfielder Nampalys Mendy,29, came in for Ndidi against the Bees to help Leicester to tenth in the top-flight on just his third League game this term but he is not in their squad for the Europa Conference League with all clubs restricted to a maximum of 25 players, plus additional homegrown youngsters.
It means Mendy will be unavailable for the quarter-final clash with PSV Eindhoven next month. Asked how frustrating the situation is, Rodgers replied: “Very. It is just really unfortunate he is not in the European squad. That is the frustration there but I thought he was excellent against Brentford. He is a player with experience and can take the ball. He will be great for us.”
Leicester’s win over Brentford leaves them 12 points off seventh with three games in hand. Despite the blow of losing Ndidi, Rodgers at least had Timothy Castage back at the weekend for his first appearance this year after thigh surgery.
Veteran stopper Jonny Evans also made his first appearance of the year, while Wesley Fofana was rested after his first appearance of the season last Thursday after a broken leg. Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton are also due back soon after the international break. Rodgers added: “I am very optimistic we can finish well.
“So many of our best players are coming back like Wesley Fofana, Jonny and Timothy Castagne. Jamie Vardy is also a week to a couple of weeks away. It is exciting and will galvanise the group and bring energy. A lot of them are fresh because they haven’t played a great deal of football.
“I feel we can finish the season really strong. It is great to see them back because it means the squad is competitive. We have to just keep improving the level of our performance.”
