Puel's Fitness Update: Okazaki, James, Söyüncü
- Shinji Okazaki, Matty James and Çağlar Söyüncü feature in Claude Puel's fitness update
- Leicester City will tackle Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off)
- Okazaki's fitness will be evaluated by City's medical staff on Friday morning, says Puel
- Matty James and new signing Söyüncü will be not be ready to tackle the Saints
The Japan striker has been recovering from an injury complaint over recent weeks after representing his country at the FIFA World Cup in Russia this summer.
St Mary’s will hold fond memories for the 32-year-old after he scored a brace in a 4-1 success during a four-game winning run for the Foxes last winter.
However, Puel stressed that no risks will be taken with Okazaki’s fitness, clarifying that the medical staff will evaluate his fitness on Friday before travelling to the south coast.
“There are no new injuries,” the Frenchman said on Thursday. “We will see with Okazaki, perhaps he is match fit. We will see. We have a training session tomorrow.”
Puel also confirmed that 27-year-old midfielder Matty James will miss the trip to Southampton, but also elaborated on new signing Çağlar Söyüncü’s condition.
Söyüncü, 22, joined the Club on deadline day this month, but continues to recover from an injury sustained before his King Power Stadium arrival.
The Leicester boss added: “Söyüncü had an injury before he came here. We will see when he can play and he can start [to regain fitness] with the Under-23s.
“We will see the selection, it is between my staff, the players and me. We have a lot of players available to continue our work.”