No Fresh Fitness Concerns For Stoke, Says Rowett

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No Fresh Fitness Concerns For Stoke, Says Rowett

Gary Rowett is not expecting any changes to the players available within his squad for this weekend’s trip to Stoke City.

2026-02-19T15:00+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

19 Feb, 2026

from LCFC Training Ground

No Fresh Fitness Concerns For Stoke, Says Rowett

Gary Rowett is not expecting any changes to the players available within his squad for this weekend’s trip to Stoke City.

Sam Jones

2026-02-19T15:00+00:00

No Fresh Fitness Concerns For Stoke, Says Rowett

Gary Rowett is not expecting any changes to the players available within his squad for this weekend’s trip to Stoke City.

Sam Jones

2026-02-19T15:00+00:00

No Fresh Fitness Concerns For Stoke, Says Rowett

Gary Rowett is not expecting any changes to the players available within his squad for this weekend’s trip to Stoke City.

Sam Jones

2026-02-19T15:00+00:00

No Fresh Fitness Concerns For Stoke, Says Rowett

Gary Rowett is not expecting any changes to the players available within his squad for this weekend’s trip to Stoke City.

Sam Jones

2026-02-19T15:00+00:00

We’re taking on Stoke City in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday (12:30pm kick-off)
New Leicester City Manager Gary Rowett assessed the squad’s current status ahead of the game
Jamaal Lascelles, Jannik Vestergaard and Jordan James are among those who missed last weekend’s fixture

We head to bet365 Stadium on Saturday for a 12:30pm kick-off against the Potters, with Rowett set to take charge of the Foxes for the first time in the Sky Bet Championship.

Several players are currently out of contention and not expected to return to the fold in Staffordshire, as the 51-year-old spoke during Thursday’s pre-match press conference at LCFC Training Ground.

Photo 1/18

A look at Gary Rowett's first training session as Leicester City Manager.

January signing Jamaal Lascelles missed last weekend’s Emirates FA Cup reverse at Southampton, while fellow centre-back Jannik Vestergaard has not featured since the home defeat to Oxford United on 24 January.

“It’s more about hoping that players are closer to returning,” the Manager told reporters in Seagrave. “I don’t think there will be massively new players returning from previous games.

“We are a little light in certain areas, we’re okay in other areas. We’ve got to perform and show in the next couple of games and get a little fortune with injuries and then hopefully the squad looks a little bit stronger with a bit more experience, which would be nice.

“Probably for the next week or two, we’re as we are. We’ve got some very good players and I’m excited to see what they can do.”

Jordan James has also been out but is progressing in his recovery after missing the last five matches with a hamstring issue.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid will serve the final game of his three-match suspension this weekend for the red card he picked up at Birmingham City, though Joe Aribo is eligible to play again after sitting out against his parent club.

“He (James) is one of those players,” Rowett added. “I don’t like putting timescales on players. But if you look at some of the players that might be available, hopefully one or two of those will be a little closer to the action.

“But the Championship is so frenetic. If you come back in for a game, suddenly you might have to play three games in a week off the back of not much football, so it’s a challenge to manage, but it’s not something new to me.”

All times GMT.

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