Rodgers: Five Players May Return To City's Squad

- Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers provided a fitness update on his squad
- The Foxes face Burnley at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday (3pm GMT kick-off)
- Patson Daka, Luke Thomas, Çağlar Söyüncü, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Justin could feature
- Justin has been absent with an ACL injury since February, but played for City's Under-23s last weekend

At one point over the festive period and the turn of 2022, the Foxes were reduced to eight fit senior players, through a mix of injury, illness or international representation, but things are gradually beginning to improve. James Justin, absent with an ACL injury since February, is one player close to a return. 

Speaking ahead of Saturday's visit to Turf Moor in the Premier League, Rodgers said: "We’ve got a number of players returning, which is really good news for us. We’re in a much better place than where we were in the previous game.

"We’ve got Patson Daka back. Luke Thomas will be back. Çağlar Söyüncü will be back. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Justin too, which is great news for us. He will be available, maybe not to start, but he’s back in the squad again."

Full-back Justin played 45 minutes for the Club's Development Squad at the weekend as part of his recovery and Rodgers believes the England Under-21s international is ready to be a part of Leicester's senior squad again.

"He came through [the Under-23s game] very well," the 48-year-old explained. "It was just initially getting that appearance in and pulling the kit on again. He felt good in the game. He’s looked very strong in training and we feel he can now start to be drip fed into the games.

"He should be available for the squad. We’ll get a final look at him tomorrow. To have him back is such a huge plus for us. He’s been a big miss for us in so many ways. It’s going to take time having been out for so long, but over the course of the second half of the season, I’m sure he’ll get back to his level."

With more options to choose from when naming a Leicester City XI, Rodgers is keen to progress with the Club's fixture programme, which has been dented by postponements over recent weeks. The clash with Burnley in Lancashire will be City's maiden Premier League outing of the calendar year.

"Clearly, it does make it a lot easier," the Northern Irishman added. "Over the last games, for the FA Cup game (a 4-1 win vs. Watford), the rules are different. You have to play Under-23s and Under-18s players and that’s what we did do. In all the games, we’ve been trying to put out a team that is competitive.

"For Everton (due to take place on Tuesday before being postponed), according to the Premier League rules, we had to have 13 players and goalkeeper, but we had eight, so the game didn’t go ahead. The return of players gives us a chance to get on with the fixtures.

"That’s what we’ve already done. Norwich (postponed on New Year's Day) wasn’t ourselves. The Everton game was put in by the Premier League, but it wasn’t a scheduled game. We want to play games. Hopefully we can have players coming back which thickens the squad and allows us to get on now."