Dewsbury-Hall In Contention - Pre-Newcastle Fitness News
- Leicester City host Newcastle United at King Power Stadium on Boxing Day (3pm GMT kick-off)
- Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers has spoken about the fitness of his squad
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is in contention to appear, but James Maddison will be assessed
- There's also news on Jonny Evans, Ricardo Pereira, James Justin, Ryan Bertrand and Will Alves
Dewsbury-Hall picked up a minor calf issue in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Sheffield United during the FIFA World Cup break, leading to him missing the 3-0 win at MK Dons in the Carabao Cup. James Maddison, though, may miss that clash with Newcastle, while Jonny Evans is also out.
"Kiernan is fine," Rodgers told the media at LCFC Training Ground on Friday. "He just felt his calf a little bit in the Sheffield United game we played behind closed doors, but he’s recovered and he trained yesterday and today, so he’s fine."
Maddison (knee) will be assessed before the visit of Eddie Howe's Magpies, but Evans (calf) is expected to miss that game. The Club captain was substituted early on during another mid-season friendly against French outfit Troyes earlier this month.
"We’re going to give it every chance to see where [Maddison's] at," the Foxes manager added. "He’s had some ongoing issues with his knee for a little bit of time, so we’ll just assess that over the next couple of days.
"He’s been consistent for 18 months now. Hopefully, there’s no doubting his talent. We’ll get him fit and I’m pretty sure we’ll see him hit that same level. Jonny Evans is not so good. He had an injury against Troyes. It’s an issue with his calf so unfortunately he’ll be out for a period of time."
Ricardo Pereira (Achilles), on the other hand, is continuing his recovery, as is James Justin (Achilles). The latter picked up his injury some time after Ricardo, but both are working with the Club's medical teams on their eventual returns to action. There was also an update on Ryan Bertrand (knee).
"[Ricardo's] doing very well," Rodgers explained. "We’re hoping at some point in January, towards the middle or the end, he can re-join the group, so that’s great news. JJ is working behind the scenes as well, doing his strength work.
"Ryan is out on the field now. He’s still not near to playing yet but he’s progressed from inside to outside, so that’s a good sign."
Rodgers also wished youngster Will Alves well after the Academy star was ruled out for the rest of 2022/23 with an ACL injury sustained in an FA Youth Cup win at Wolves U18s earlier this week. A day beforehand, the talented midfielder starred from the bench for City's senior side at MK Dons.
"We have one which is a real sad one for us," the manager explained. "We lost one of our young talents, Will Alves. It's such a shame for a young player who's 17 and making his way in the game, making his mark. That was the only real disappointment for us because he's a young player he's been in and round it.
"We wish him a speedy recovery and we'll get him back. It'll certainly be the rest of the season that he'll be out for so his rehab will start now over the next few weeks and then he'll have an operation after that."
The work continues for Leicester's players over the coming days, with the squad in on Christmas day to prepare for Boxing Day's action.
"We’ll be in on Christmas Day training," Rodgers confirmed. "We’ve had a period of rest and the players have worked really, really hard and done some great work too. We’re back into normal preparation. We’ll be here to finalise our plans and then we’re really looking forward to the game on Boxing Day."