Castagne Nears Return & Vardy Could Feature Again, Says Rodgers

- Leicester City host Brighton & Hove Albion in the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup on Wednesday (7:30pm GMT kick-off)
- Manager Brendan Rodgers says Timothy Castagne is a 'week to 10 days' away from returning
- Jamie Vardy could be involved again on Wednesday after recovering from a minor hernia operation
- Some of the Club's younger players could be involved for the Foxes against the Seagulls, Rodgers says

The Foxes, who sit third in the Premier League, welcome Graham Potter's Seagulls to Filbert Way after beating Sky Bet Championship opposition in Stoke City and Brentford so far in the competition.

Ahead of that clash, Rodgers has confirmed full-back Timothy Castagne (hamstring) will not feature on Wednesday, but the Northern Irishman did suggest Jamie Vardy (hernia) is likely to be involved.

Vardy was a second-half substitute for the Foxes in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.

"Wednesday is a big game for us," Rodgers told the media on Monday. "He hasn’t lost too much fitness, that’s the reality of it. It’s only a couple of weeks which he’s been out. He’s got a great level of fitness.

"He’d obviously had the 10 days out, he’d trained a bit with the team, and then we gave him the half-hour (at Wolves). You can see what he brings to the team. We’ll definitely get him some minutes on Wednesday, whether that’s in the first period of the game, or the second, so he’ll feature at some point.

"[Castagne] is probably another week to 10 days away. He’s obviously been working well with the medical team, but he’s still a little bit of time away."

The Leicester manager also revealed that some of the Club's younger players could have a role to play in Wednesday's cup action, which falls in the middle of a three-game week for the Foxes.

"We’ll have a strong XI," the 48-year-old continued. "We’ll make changes, there’s no doubt about that. We have to consider the month, the games, the early kick-off at the weekend.

"We’ll still have as a squad and we’ll also take the opportunity to look at maybe one or two of our talented young players.

"We’ve had a group of young players that have been training with us and, like I’ve always tried to do, if I think it’s the right moment, we’ll give them an opportunity.

"With young players, you’ll never know until you put them in. It’s something we’ve done all season, but we want to get into the quarter-finals. After this press conference, we’ll confirm everything in terms of the strategy for the game, the squad, the team, everything else, and then you’ll see on Wednesday."