Sports

Rodgers Says Iheanacho, Ndidi leaving for AFCON’ll hurt Leicester City

Published

3 years ago

Dec 30, 2021.

Rodgers Says Iheanacho, Ndidi leaving for AFCON’ll hurt Foxes

EKO HOT BLOG reports that manager of Leicester FC, Brendan Rodgers has admitted that departure four Leicester City players, which includes Super Eagles duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho will hurt the club.

The players depart from clubs to participate in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations

After the New Year’s Day fixture with Norwich, Ndidi, Iheanacho, Daniel Amartey (Ghana) and Papy Mendy (Senegal) will link up with their national teams ahead of the month-long tournament in Cameroon.

Their departure is significant to Leicester because of the injury situation they find themselves in.

Ndidi and Amartey formed the centre-back partnership for Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Liverpool, with Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu and Wesley Fofana all out injured. After they leave, the Foxes will only have one fit senior centre-back in Jannik Vestergaard.

Upfront, Iheanacho is set to leave and with Patson Daka out injured, Leicester will not have any alternatives to Jamie Vardy, who appeared to struggle with his hamstring during the final stages of the win over Liverpool.

“It will hurt a lot because of the situation we’re in,” Rodgers said on their departures next week.

“However, it’s important for these guys to play. They love playing in this competition, and it’s important for them to be playing for their countries. They’ll give everything, and then they’ll go away and hopefully do well out there.”

The four players could miss up to four or five games, depending on how far their countries go at the tournament.

Those knocked out in the group stages may only miss two matches, the FA Cup third-round tie against Watford and then a home Premier League fixture against Brighton.

Those that go further will miss a trip to Burnley, and then, if Leicester progress, the fourth round of the FA Cup.

If they make it through to the final, the return fixture at Liverpool on February 10 may come too soon for them.

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