Leicester injuries and availability: Maddison and Barnes

Foxes of Leicester report on Leicester City’s injuries and the squad status as James Maddison and Harvey Barnes contract an illness.

Just as Maddison and Barnes are returning to the level of respective form that both are known, admired and feared for by opposition defenders, both have apparently picked up a virus. Brendan Rodgers, manager of the Foxes, confirmed this in his pre-Spartak Moscow Europa League press conference.

Now the two players’ availability for that game is uncertain. Hopefully the pair will be fit and healthy soon because, as previously mentioned, Madders is back in the team and looks to have found that swagger, meanwhile the LCFC Academy graduate is pushing for Premier League starts and looking as dangerous as ever.

Don’t get me wrong though, with all due respect, Leicester should not require Maddison nor Barnes to defeat Spartak at King Power Stadium. But having those talented options is always a huge plus. The former Norwich City man would likely have begun on the bench anyway, as Rodgers rotates his side in Europe more often than not.

While the winger would have possibly started the game to increase his sharpness; I had envisioned a Barnes ‘masterclass’ and a significant selection headache for the boss before playing Leeds United in the English top-flight in the coming gameweek. Sadly that may not be case now.

In addition to the two at the heart of this article, the Northern Irishman spoke of Marc Albrighton’s progress on the road to recovery from his injury, along with Ayoze Perez’s fitness:

"Perez and Albrighton?“Ayo is in the squad. He’s fine after his bug. Marc is still a few weeks away.”Which players have virus?“Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, and James Justin, who wouldn’t have been available. They’ve been down for a few days. They’re coming around now. If they are back for tomorrow, they should be able to play at the weekend.”Via Leicester Mercury"