With Leicester City facing a dire shortage of midfielders due to injuries to Ricardo Pereira and Dennis Praet, manager Enzo Maresca humorously hinted at a potential comeback from retirement ahead of their clash against Sunderland in the Championship.
The Foxes, aiming for an immediate return to the Premier League following last season’s relegation, received a setback as Ricardo was ruled out until after the international break with a hamstring injury suffered in training before the QPR defeat. Praet also limped off the pitch just 15 minutes into the game against QPR, leaving Leicester City severely depleted in midfield for the upcoming match at the Stadium of Light.
“Ricardo is injured and he will be out until after the international break,” lamented Maresca. “Dennis is injured again. I was a midfielder. Probably on Tuesday (against Sunderland) I can play half an hour, and 45 minutes because in this moment we have just Harry Winks, Kiernan, and Yunus.”
Adding to their woes, Kasey McAteer remains sidelined with injury, and defender Jannik Vestergaard is suspended. Wilfred Ndidi is also unavailable for selection.
Regarding his decision to omit Kelechi Iheanacho from the squad, Maresca explained, “Kele, like all players who are sometimes out of the squad, it’s not easy because they are good players and they deserve it. But we had Jamie on the bench and Tom on the bench, so it’s just for that.”