Jamie Vardy will be “out for a while” through injury with Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca unable to put a specific timeframe on the striker’s recovery.
Vardy missed City’s 3-1 loss to Leeds after sustaining an injury in the final training session before the trip to Elland Road. It’s understood it’s a groin problem for the number nine.
The news came as a blow to City, with Vardy in excellent recent form. Despite missing over a month with a knee issue, he had got back up to speed quickly, and had scored five goals in his last five outings.
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Asked how long City would be without Vardy for, Maresca told BBC Radio Leicester: “I don’t know. He will be out for a while. I don’t know exactly how long.”
City do have other strikers to turn to, with Patson Daka starting at Leeds and Tom Cannon coming on as a substitute. There is Kelechi Iheanacho too, albeit he missed out on the squad at Elland Road. Maresca clarified that it was because of “selection” rather than injury.
He will hope to be back in the squad on Tuesday night for the FA Cup last-16 clash with Bournemouth. With Championship promotion the focus, and with tie coming in midweek, Maresca is expected to make changes.
Jannik Vestergaard will be available for the game despite picking up a suspension at Leeds, the Dane finally receiving his 10th booking of the Championship campaign. Vestergaard had been shown nine yellow cards in his first 17 outings, but then went 15 games before getting his 10th.
Suspensions don’t carry between competitions, so Vestergaard will be available to take on Bournemouth in the FA Cup. He will then miss the Championship fixtures against QPR and Sunderland.
In the Championship, there are two City players who need to be a little careful. Harry Winks and Ricardo Pereira are both on eight yellow cards, and so they need to get through the next three league fixtures without getting more than one booking, otherwise they will be banned for two matches too. After the 37th game of the season, the slate is wiped clean.
In the FA Cup, two yellow cards before the quarter-final gets you a ban. City only have Cannon on a tightrope as the sole player to have picked up a booking across the club’s two FA Cup fixtures so far.
