Rodgers: Ndidi will be back soon, Iheanacho could replace injured Vardy

WILFRED Ndidi’s injury is not as bad as initially feared, Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed.

The Nigeria midfielder limped off with a hamstring injury during the Premier League draw with Everton on Wednesday night and there were concerns he could be out for weeks.

However Rodgers has indicated that Ndidi’s hamstring tear is not severe and will not keep him out for long.

“It’s just a slight tear (for Ndidi),” the 48-year-old Rodgers explained to reporters on Friday. “He will be out for a week to 10 days, which is unfortunate, but sometimes hamstrings can be much longer than that. Jonny (Evans) is fine. It’s been an ongoing issue with him for a little while, but he’ll be fine.”

Leicester’s top scorer Jamie Vardy missed the Everton tie and is still out for Sunday’s fixture against Leeds United. But Rodgers is confident the 33-year-old will be back fit in no time.

The manager is also pleased with how his squad has coped with injuries this season, mentioning Super Eagles striker Kelechi Iheanacho as one of the potential replacements for Vardy on Sunday.

“Jamie’s six days post-operation,” Rodgers told the media. “Having been sore initially after the operation, I saw him after training in the gym today, so he’s progressing really well.

“We’re on schedule to meet the deadline we’ve got. We were looking to hopefully get him training towards 10 days (after the operation), so he’s on course for that.

“We’re just looking closely at his rehabilitation. He’s progressed really well over these last few days. We haven’t earmarked a game yet (for a return), but we’ll look more closely at that next week.

“It’s the same test we’ve had all season when we’ve had players missing,” he continued. “Jamie is a top-class player, so is Wilf, but we’ve managed to get good results consistently over the season.

“As a coach or a manager, you have to find a way to get results and, very importantly for us, [maintain] the performance level.

“We played very well in midweek and we’ll look to take that into our next game. If you shine a light over the course of the season, we’ve had important players who have been missing consistently.

“It’s only really been up until the last week or so where we haven’t had that. We trust the squad. Of course, you miss someone of Jamie’s ability and the strengths he has.

“That would help anybody, in particular ourselves, but as I said, I thought Ayo (Ayoze Pérez) did very well in the week. We’ve got Kels (Kelechi Iheanacho) as well, who can come into the game, and it’s a collective effort to put in a level of performance that can see us win games.”

Leicester are third in the table with 39 points from 20 games and could go top with a win depending on other results.

Promoted Leeds United are 12th with 26 points from 19 matches.