Rodgers hopes Ndidi will be fit for Forest on Monday
Ndidi tweaked his hamstring muscle in the defeat at Spurs and after taking part in a light training session with Nigeria, it was deemed he was not worth the risk
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers hopes Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi will be fit to face Nottingham Forest next Monday despite returning early from international duty with an injury.
Ndidi tweaked his hamstring muscle in the defeat at Spurs and after taking part in a light training session with Nigeria, it was deemed he was not worth the risk, and so returned to City before the Super Eagles’ 2-1 defeat to Algeria on Tuesday.
But, it does not look like keeping him out of the crucial East Midlands derby.
Under-pressure manager Rodgers will be relieved that he has an almost fully-fit squad to choose from for the game.
Dennis Praet missed some training but is now back in, while it is hoped Patson Daka will overcome the illness that kept him out of Zambia’s game in the international break, albeit he did not appear to be in training on Friday.
That would leave just Ricardo Pereira (Achilles) and Ryan Bertrand (knee) out.
“We had Wilfred Ndidi come back early, but he’s looking really positive,” Rodgers said at his press conference on Friday afternoon. “He trained this morning, so he hopefully will be fine.
“We had Dennis Praet who had a few days where he was struggling, but has come through the last few days well and has looked good in training. So I think we’re okay.”
None of the other international players have returned with any issues, and there is a fresher feel at the training ground after the break, which Rodgers said “broke the cycle” following six straight defeats. But there is still a task for City and the manager to change the mood of the supporters, who will go into Monday’s game with a sense of trepidation. “It definitely broke the cycle we were on, with the tough summer, and tough start of the season,” Rodgers said on the international break. “It also gave us a chance to reflect on the performance. Despite the scoreline there was lots that was good in the game. If we can organise a little better, some of the small details, we believe we can push on in this next set of games.
