Ranieri’s Injury Update: Dyer, Mahrez & Schlupp

- City boss revealed Nathan Dyer is in his selection thoughts as the winger looks to return to action following a knee injury 

- Riyad Mahrez and Jeffrey Schlupp did not train on Thursday and will be assessed on Friday, according to Ranieri 

Ahead of Saturday’s Barclays Premier League trip to Southampton, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri revealed winger Nathan Dyer is in his selection thoughts for the clash. 

Dyer, on loan from Swansea City until the end of the 2015/16 season, has been out of action since mid-September after injuring his knee while scoring the winning goal in the 3-2 victory over Aston Villa last month. 

Ranieri has been impressed with the pacey wideman, who over the international break notched up 90 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Birmingham City. 

“He’s good,” Ranieri said. “He’s in good condition and I’m thinking about him. He came on and scored a fantastic goal [against Aston Villa]. Maybe everybody was thinking it was his head and not his knee, but now he’s good. 

“He works very well and very hard and we are happy. He came and it was like he was with us a long time ago. He’s a nice boy and he’s always laughing – that is good. That’s important for us because it gives me the opportunity to change something during the match.”

A total of 10 Foxes were on duty for their nations over the international break and all apart from Riyad Mahrez and Jeffrey Schlupp took part in training on Thursday. 

Schlupp capped a successful round of international action on Wednesday as he played 90 minutes for Ghana in their 1-1 friendly draw against Canada, while Mahrez was involved for Algeria during two international friendlies, most recently against Senegal on Tuesday evening. 

Ranieri added: “The international break was good for my players, many achieved European qualification. Kasper [Schmeichel] has to fight again, but it’s good. Now, our minds are towards Southampton. 

“Today (Thursday), we had a training session. Riyad and Schlupp didn’t train because they arrived this morning and they must recover. Tomorrow, I’ll check everybody.”