Rodgers: Evans & Söyüncü Out For Spurs Test

- Brendan Rodgers provides a fitness update on his Leicester City squad
- The Foxes entertain Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday (7:30pm kick-off)
- Jonny Evans and Çağlar Söyüncü are not in contention to play in the fixture
- Daniel Amartey is back in training but it'll be too soon for him to feature on Thursday

The Foxes welcome Spurs to King Power Stadium looking to make it two wins in a row in the Premier League following Sunday's 4-0 success over Newcastle United. A Youri Tielemans brace and strikes by Patson Daka and James Maddison sealed that victory on Filbert Way.

Defender Evans will miss Thursday's outing in the East Midlands, but could be in contention for the visit to Goodison Park to tackle Everton on Sunday. The Northern Ireland international had to be replaced during the early stages of the victory over Newcastle at the weekend.

"It’s not as bad as first feared," Rodgers said, after medical checks were conducted this week. "The scan’s come through as best as we probably could have hoped for, but of course he’ll struggle for tomorrow’s game and we’ll see where he’s at for the weekend. It’s still a possibility [for the weekend]."

Elsewhere, centre-back Söyüncü is set to miss the clash with Antonio Conte's Spurs. The Turkey international picked up a hamstring complaint during the final moments on Sunday.

"We’ll see how his recovery goes over the next few days," Rodgers explained. "It could be up to a week or so, between that and seven to 11 days. It all depends on the individual and how they recover. If you watch the game back, you’ll see it’s right towards the end of the game.

"He’s gone up for a corner and he was sprinting back and, right at the tail end of it, he just put his hand down and felt that tiredness and the issue in his hamstring. He’s played a lot of games and we’ll just have to assess it between now and the weekend to see if he’s available."

Daniel Amartey, on the other hand, is back in training after a short absence. The Leicester manager, though, says it's unlikely he'll be ready to be included in the starting XI this Thursday.

"It’s a similar group of players that have been out that will continue to be out," he said. "Daniel Amartey is back. He’s only just returned after a period of time out, so we can’t consider him to start the game, but apart from that, it will be the same squad minus Jonny and Çağs."

With several defenders out, alongside long-term absentees James Justin and Wesley Fofana, Rodgers hopes it's a chance to impress which can be seized upon by the Club's other defensive players.

"It’s an opportunity for somebody else," he added. "There will be opportunities for some of our younger players to be involved and experience being in and around the Premier League. I’m always optimistic. It’s an important way to be.

"We would love to have all the players that are out available, that would certainly make us a lot, lot stronger, but they’re not so we’ll work with the players that are available and we’ll look to get a result."

On Justin specifically, the 48-year-old continued: "It’ll be a little bit of time. He’s a player that’s off at the moment. He’s had no luck over these last couple of weeks. He’s worked so hard and he’s came back earlier than we anticipated.

"Throughout this period, whether he’s available or not, we’ll see. He’s going to be a great addition for us and hopefully he can get a rhythm of games and get back to his level.

"We’ve brought in players that are multifunctional and can play in a couple of positions. We’ll always put out a team that will be competitive and organised and look to play how we want to play. I’ve got a great belief in the players who are available that whatever team we put out will give us a chance to get a result."

The Club have also had to respond to a number of positive COVID-19 cases and mild illnesses in December. 

On that topic, Rodgers said: "We’ve still, obviously, got a number of players out. In total, we’ve got nine players unavailable through COVID and other medical issues. In terms of the COVID side of things, we’re still where we were.

"[We’re looking at it] game by game. If you look at the close proximity of the next five games, we’ve got five games in 13 days. We’ve got Tottenham tomorrow, Everton on Sunday, on Wednesday it’s Liverpool, on Sunday it’s Manchester City and on Tuesday it’s Liverpool.

"It’s an incredible run of games and that’s a challenging fixture list at any time, when you have a full squad. With the numbers we’ve had out, of course, it’s extremely challenging. One thing we’ve always tried to do is respect the competition and get on with it. That’s exactly what we’ll do."

All times GMT.