Rodgers Discusses Ricardo & Vardy Availability For Newcastle

- Leicester City travel to St. James' Park to face Newcastle United on New Year's Day (3pm kick-off)
- Brendan Rodgers says both Ricardo Pereira and Jamie Vardy are in contention to feature
- Ricardo missed Saturday's 2-1 win at West Ham United as a precaution after a hamstring issue
- Vardy sat out the clash in the capital due to the birth of his baby daughter on Saturday morning

Rodgers made nine changes for the 2-1 win at London Stadium and, while many first team stars were rested, Ricardo missed the clash due to a hamstring complaint. 

However, the Foxes manager has confirmed that the 26-year-old is expected to be available for selection in Wednesday's trip to St. James' Park to tackle Steve Bruce's Magpies. 

"He should be fine for Newcastle," Rodgers said. "He just felt it a bit tight, so I didn’t take him to West Ham. I gave him a rest, but he’ll be back in and fine for Wednesday."

Jamie Vardy, on the other hand, also missed the West Ham triumph due to the birth of his baby daughter, and Rodgers says the Club's all-time top Premier League goalscorer will be back this week.

"He had the good news on Saturday and, to be fair to him, he delayed this as long as he possibly could! But his wife went into hospital on Friday and gave birth on Saturday morning," Rodgers said.

"It's brilliant for both of them. He wouldn't have played on Saturday anyway, he'd have been on the bench, but we let him stay at home to look after his wife and kids and he'll be back for Newcastle."

Meanwhile, the Northern Irishman also elaborated on the faith his has in City's wider first team squad after seeing several players impress during Saturday's victory in the capital. 

Goalscorers Kelechi Iheanacho and Demarai Gray were joined by Wes Morgan, James Justin, Christian Fuchs, Papy Mendy, Hamza Choudhury, Marc Albrighton and Ayoze Pérez coming in.

Rodgers says that squad depth will be invaluable to the Football Club if they are to achieve success this season and also revealed the satisfaction their team-mates felt watching on from the sidelines.

"For us to succeed, it’s about the squad," he added. "All the players, like James Maddison, Youri [Tielemans] and Çağs (Çağlar Söyüncü), they were all so happy for the players that came in.

"The team has been pretty much set for most of the season, we’ve changed it from time to time, but it’s not so much the players that are playing, it’s the players that aren’t playing.

"That allows development and improvement because they have to push every day, so whatever team we play, I trust in the players and how they’re developing.

"It’s great for them that they can come into a good game in the Premier League, away from home, and get that feeling of winning."