Vardy & Ndidi Close To Returning, Says Rodgers

- Leicester City face Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium on Sunday (2pm GMT kick-off)
- Jamie Vardy and Wilfred Ndidi could feature in some capacity for the Foxes, Brendan Rodgers confirms
- Vardy missed four games after hernia surgery, while Ndidi picked up a hamstring complaint last week
- Updates are also provided on Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne, who also have hamstring issues

Striker Vardy, 34, has been absent for four games after undergoing minor hernia surgery in January, while midfielder Ndidi, 24, was substituted in City's 1-1 Premier League draw at Everton last week.

Ahead of Sunday's trip to Molineux Stadium, the Foxes manager provided a comprehensive fitness update on his Leicester squad, confirming Vardy and Ndidi are progressing well.

"Yes, Jamie will be available for the weekend," Rodgers said inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground. "Like we said at the time, it was just about trying to fit the operation in at the right time.

"We had a good idea of the recovery time, but of course, Jamie naturally is very fit and he’s recovered very well. He looks fit and strong and is available, which is great."

Kelechi Iheanacho, meanwhile, netted for the Foxes in Wednesday's 2-0 success over Fulham at Craven Cottage and Rodgers was thrilled with the Nigeria international's contribution.

Asked if City may start with Vardy on Sunday, the 48-year-old explained: "The beauty of it is we don’t have to. That’s the key. Kelechi, the other night, he was terrific in his work.

"He scored a great goal and he will be high in confidence. We all know Jamie is so important to us, but the beauty of it is, coming out of an operation, we don’t need to rush him.

"Just to have him available, whether to start or from the bench, it’s a huge boost for us. It’s not a problem. It’s great Kels has got his goal because he’s worked so hard.

"That's not just in games he's played, but every day in training, so he got his reward for that."

Ndidi, on the other hand, will be monitored over the coming days as the Club's medical team will analyse his suitability to feature in the West Midlands.

"We’ll see with him over the next 24 hours, just whether it’s worth the risk or not," Rodgers continued.

"He’s coming along very, very well. We’ll assess that. If not for the weekend, he’ll definitely be available for midweek (vs. Brighton & Hove Albion in the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round."

Defenders Wesley Fofana, 20, and Timothy Castagne, 25, meanwhile, are both recovering from hamstring issues, but Rodgers says work is underway towards their returns.

"[Fofana is] ongoing treatment," he added. "We said the other night he’d be between four and five weeks, so he’s in the first week of that.

"The timeline [on Castagne] was a couple of weeks from that Leeds game, so he’s responding well. He’s doing his work with the medical team and we’ll see how he is over the next 10 days."

Like several sides, Leicester have lost played to hamstring injuries over recent weeks and Rodgers believes that is to be expected with the nature of the hectic fixture schedule in 2020/21.

"It’s something we’re obviously looking at," the former Celtic manager added. "We gather as much information as we can. We’re certainly not driven by data, but we’re informed by all the data.

"We try as best as we can to mitigate as many of the circumstances that will lead to injuries, but of course, sometimes things just happen in the game, which is unfortunate.

"You’ve seen it throughout the league. It’s a real taxing time. We’ve tried to be flexible with the squad. Sometime players you want to play can’t because of the loading they’ve had.

"Timothy is a player that is fast and dynamic, so he’s obviously picked that injury up. Wesley has played a number of games, mostly because he had to, or we would have taken him out.

"It’s the nature of this season, you see it throughout the league. It’s really tough physically on the players and we just have to do our best to try and cope with that as best as we can."