Barnes Back In Training, Says Rodgers

- Harvey Barnes is training well as part of his return from a knee injury, says Brendan Rodgers
- The Leicester City winger has been absent for the first two games of the 2022/23 season
- Rodgers says the 24-year-old could play a part in Saturday's clash with Southampton
- The Foxes face Ralph Hasenhüttl's men in a 3pm kick-off at King Power Stadium 

The Academy graduate, an Emirates FA Cup and FA Community Shield winner at the Club, has been absent so far in 2022/23 after sustaining a knee injury in pre-season. Barnes, though, has been out on the pitches at LCFC Training Ground this week in the build-up to City's next outing.

Southampton visit King Power Stadium on gameweek three in the Premier League this Saturday (3pm kick-off).

"Harvey Barnes, which is great news for us, is back in training," Rodgers told the media on Thursday afternoon. "That’s really good for us. He’s looked excellent and fit and had a really good pre-season. It was a blow to lose him but he should be available.

"We will decide whether he will be in from the start. He's looked good in training. He's had a really good pre-season. He may be available to start, maybe not [play] the full 90 minutes, but we'll discuss that after the final session tomorrow."

Barnes' return, whether it occurs this weekend or at a later date, is likely to give Rodgers more options, especially in wide areas, and could possibly lead to a change in shape too. 

"It certainly opens that possibility when you have that pace and width in the team," the Foxes manager added. "It’s always important for how we play, that width. We always try to be flexible in how we play. Of course, when you’re limited, when he was out, we had to adjust.

"The players are very adaptable and can adjust really well."

All times BST.