Same Selection Options For Arsenal, Says Rodgers
- Brendan Rodgers provides a fitness update on his Leicester City squad
- The Foxes welcome Arsenal to King Power Stadium on Sunday (12pm GMT kick-off)
- James Maddison and Ayoze Pérez remain out, the Northern Irishman confirms
- City are also without central defenders Wesley Fofana and Wes Morgan through injury
The Foxes are third in the Premier League and into the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup, but exited the UEFA Europa League on Thursday after a defeat by Slavia Prague on Filbert Way.
Rodgers will be without James Maddison (hip), Ayoze Pérez (knee), Wesley Fofana (hamstring), Dennis Praet (hamstring) and Wes Morgan (back), but the Northern Irishman says there are no new issues.
James Justin, on the other hand, is also out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury and is working towards a long-term rehabilitation plan with the Club's medical staff.
"We’ve got the same squad available, so the likes of James Maddison, Ayo Pérez are still not available," the 48-year-old explained on Friday afternoon. "They continue to be out, so it’s the same squad."
Discussing Maddison's injury specifically, which came amid a patch of excellent form, Rodgers provided more details on the condition of City's No.10.
"It’s obviously a very frustrating time," he added. "He was in great form. He’s a real catalyst for our team with his consistency. Having been out in the early part of the season, his consistency has developed and he's been absolutely brilliant, so it’s a very, very frustrating time for him.
"The injury he has isn’t time driven. He had an operation at the end of last season. He’s got a little issue with his tendon just above that.
"We’re hoping he’ll be back sooner rather than later, but we can’t put a timeline on it as it’s just about how he feels and how he can recover over the next few weeks."
Addressing some of the other players individually, starting with Fofana, he continued: "He had a hamstring strain. He’s recovering really well. He’s been out on the field over these last couple of days and should rejoin the training group next week, which is great news for us."
On Praet, meanwhile, Rodgers said: "He’s progressing very well. He’s quite a way down the road in terms of his rehabilitation, so we’re hoping that sometime in early March, he’ll be able to rejoin the group.
"At the moment, we’re looking at around the week beginning 8 March as the timeline on him, but he’s working really well."
Pérez, on the other hand, is also continuing his rehabilitation, although there is no timeframe on a return: "We’re seeing how he is over the next few days. He’s obviously had that strain and there’s no real timeline on it with Ayo.
"We’re just waiting to see how he feels and how he reacts. We’re hoping at some period next week he can get out there and join the squad."
Club captain Morgan, on the other hand, is working hard in light of a reoccurring back complaint: "I’m pretty sure we’ll see him at some point. He’s had an ongoing issue with his back which he’s managed and coped with over these last number of years.
"He’s with our medical team rehabilitating and is doing very well, so maybe, in the next couple of weeks, he could join the squad outside."
With positive steps being taken, Rodgers is hopeful that a number of his players will be ready to return to contention in time for the 2020/21 season's final run-in of fixtures.
"It’ll be a huge boost," the former Liverpool and Celtic manager added. "Over the course of the next week or so, we’ll probably, more or less, be going with the same squad we have.
"Even though those boys will just be coming back, they’ll not be ready for the game situation, they’ll just be rejoining the training squad.
"It’s a little bit of frustration because a few weeks ago, the squad was pretty strong.
"Obviously we’ve added to the injuries we’ve had, but maybe over the next couple of weeks we’ll start to get them back again and then we can have a good lot of them back and available."