Rodgers: Ricardo To Be Assessed & Mendy In Contention
- Brendan Rodgers provided an update on the fitness of his Leicester City squad
- Ricardo Pereira (hamstring) will be assessed before Sunday's Premier League clash at Arsenal
- Papy Mendy could be involved at Emirates Stadium, James Justin (strain) is also being monitored
- Rodgers also elaborated on Wesley Fofana's condition after he tested positive for COVID-19
City remain without Jamie Vardy (knee), Jonny Evans (hamstring), Wesley Fofana (COVID-19), Timothy Castagne (thigh) and Ryan Bertrand (knee). James Maddison (lower-back/hamstring) returned from the bench in Thursday's 2-0 win over Rennes in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
James Justin started that tie after recovering from a strain, following his return from an ACL injury. Fofana, on the other hand, is close to making a return from the fractured fibula injury the Frenchman sustained in August, but Rodgers confirmed earlier this week that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
Elsewhere, Ricardo (hamstring) has not featured since being withdrawn at half-time during the 2-0 win at Burnley earlier this month, while Mendy is back in the Premier League squad after winning the CAF Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal over the winter months.
City take on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday (4:30pm GMT kick-off) in a bid to make it five wins in a row across all formats.
"We’ve got players who will come back in," the Foxes manager told the media inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground on Friday.
"We’ll have another check on Ricardo. Last night [on Thursday], JJ played 60 minutes so we’ll see how he is. Papy Mendy will come into the squad as well. All in all, it’s as strong as it can be. Wesley Fofana is obviously very much a doubt, but we’ll hopefully have him available next week."
Albrighton & Iheanacho Open Up UECL Lead
A stunner from Marc Albrighton and Kelechi Iheanacho's late strike give Leicester City a 2-0 advantage over Rennes the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Rodgers confirmed that Fofana is well and the Northern Irishman hopes he can make his much-anticipated Leicester return soon.
"I believe he’s fine," the 49-year-old added. "We’ve seen lots of cases like it where people, even without feeling symptoms, have tested positive. He seems fine, so he’s getting some physical work in and we’ll take it from there.
"[Rennes away] would be the first game that he would hopefully be available but we’ll have to assess it between now and then."