Leicester City v Arsenal: Injury update from Brendan Rodgers

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers gives crucial updates about James Maddison and all the other injured players ahead of their clash with Arsenal.

As the European nights end for Leicester City, the focus of attention will now surely be bifurcated into cementing a top-four finish in the Premier League with guaranteed Champions League football next season and also to progress further in the prestigious Emirates FA Cup.

So with their next fixture against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, who are currently eight places below Leicester, shouldn’t be of much concern on paper. However, in reality, the disquietude still looms around the team regarding the injury crisis that the club has been prolonged to from the season restart since last year. The starting lineup has shown no stability due to frequent players being pulled off frequently due to varied injuries and thus it has left Rodgers without his fair share of armaments. One can surely cite this as the prime cause for their premature exit from UEFA Europa League on Thursday after a defeat by Slavia Prague.

Unavailability for Leicester City: James Maddison

Obviously, nobody is oblivious to the fact that a major circumstantial setback for the Foxes that night was due to the unavailability of James Maddison: the central attacking midfielder has been subjugated to a hip injury during the 2-1 win over Aston Villa.

The hip issue is around the same area as the one that Maddison suffered last season, which saw Leicester City struggle to deliver results as the season drew to a close, eventually missing out on Champions League football in the final game last season. Then Maddison was forced to go under the knife that saw him miss quite a few games around the inception of this season. It took sometime before he got back to his usual.

Since then he has magnificently performed as a linker & provider for the whole team. He has scored eight goals and provided five assists in the Premier League. He has scored twice assisted once in the Europa League as well. Undoubtedly James Maddison has been the Orchestrator for the East Midlands side. On the pitch, Maddison not only performs exceptionally himself but elevates the overall team’s performance as a catalyst.

"“It’s a very frustrating time, he (James Maddison) was in great form. He’s a real catalyst for our team. His consistency, having been out in the early part of the season, has developed and he’s been brilliant so it’s been a frustrating time for him.”-Rogers said over Maddison’s impact on the team, via Leicester Mercury"

Maddison has been sent immediately by the club to see specialists in London. The fortunate news is that the 24-year-old doesn’t need any further surgeries as the injury is not very serious. That being said the manager Brendan Rodgers has also indicated not to place a timeline on the CAM’s return as it is a case of abating the sustained pain until it has reduced enough for the player to feel comfortable.

"“We’ve got no timeline on it, it’s going to be one of those where he doesn’t need anything surgically, it’s just going to be about once the pain dies down. I can’t put a timeline on it. It’s going to be about how he feels. We’re just going to have to assess that each day.”-Rodgers said of Maddison’s injury, via Leicester Mercury"

That surely puts James Maddison out for a few weeks which will not only see him miss the clash against the Gunners but also eventually missing the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup against Manchester United.

Some positives to look forward to

The gaffer will have to manage the next few games without several other players such as Ayoze Pérez, Wesley Fofana, Dennis Praet, Wes Morgan, and of course James Justin who has been sidelined for the remainder of the season.

Fofana is scheduled to join the training sessions from next week after his hamstring problem and Praet is expected to return to training sometime in early March. So is the case for Wes Morgan who is rehabilitating well with his ongoing back issue.

"“It will be a huge boost. Over the course of the next week, we’ll be going with the same squad we have. It’s a bit frustrating because a few weeks ago the squad was pretty strong, now we’re adding to the injuries we’ve had, but over the next couple of weeks, we’re starting to get them back in again.”-Rodgers said on the injured players, via Leicester Mercury"

So, the good news here is Rodgers expects the sidelined players to return to training in the coming weeks expecting that will surely boost the team’s morale. Till then Rogers has pondered his trust over to give certain players of the youth team to fill in some of the vacant shoes of the starters. It has seen players like Luke Thomas, Sidnei Tavares, and Vontae Daley-Campbell get precious minutes.