Castagne In Contention For Hammers Clash, Says Rodgers

First Team
20 Aug 2021
2 Minutes
Full-back Timothy Castagne is available for selection in Leicester City's Premier League visit to West Ham United, says manager Brendan Rodgers.

- Brendan Rodgers delivers a fitness update ahead of visiting West Ham United on Monday
- Leicester City face the Hammers in an 8pm kick-off on matchday two in the Premier League
- Timothy Castagne will be available for selection after recovering from an eye injury
- Ryan Bertrand will be absent for the Foxes after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month

The Foxes travel to London Stadium on Monday evening (8pm kick-off) after securing a 1-0 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, while the Hammers also enjoyed a 4-2 success over Newcastle United at St. James' Park.

Speaking on Friday afternoon, Rodgers revealed that City have no fresh injury problems for the clash with West Ham, while also discussing Castagne's return from an eye injury sustained at UEFA EURO 2020. Ryan Bertrand, meanwhile, will miss the game after testing positive for COVID-19.

"The squad will be around about what we had for last weekend," the Northern Irishman confirmed, speaking inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground. "Ryan Bertrand won’t be available, so it’s mostly going to be the same.

"Timothy Castagne will be available and James [Maddison] has looked fantastic in training so he’s okay."

Jannik Vestergaard, on the other hand, came off the bench for Leicester in the win over Wolves and Rodgers says his fitness will be assessed ahead of Monday to determine if he's ready to start games in the near future. That substitute appearance was his first football since EURO 2020.

"We'll see," the 48-year-old added. "I was pleased with him coming into the game last weekend. He showed his class and composure. He's still obviously not up to speed, fitness-wise, but we'll assess that over the next couple of days.

"Daniel Amartey's been outstanding in the games he's played and he fills in a number of positions for us, but we'll see where Jannik's at in the next few days and take it from there."

A heel injury for Jonny Evans, meanwhile, is also being monitored by the Club's medical team. The Northern Ireland centre-back has been out for the Foxes since starting in the final of the Emirates FA Cup back in May.

"He's out (on the training pitches), but he's obviously not training with the team," Rodgers explained. "It's just ongoing with Jonny and the injury. We said at the time we'll see where he's at after the international break, but he's not near to playing as of yet.

"We've had experience with other players with it. It's one of those frustrating injuries and he might wake up in a week's time and it's all okay. It's just one of those ones we have to be patient with. Hopefully we get him back pretty soon."

All times BST.