Claudio Ranieri is confident that Leicester City are in good hands with Ron-Robert Zieler as Kasper Schmeichel prepares for a period out with a fractured hand.
The Denmark international suffered the injury during Leicester's 0-0 draw with FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday, but he continued to play and only came to realise the pain when in bed that night.
Schmeichel had surgery on his hand on Thursday and revealed that the procedure "went well", and though Leicester are unwilling to put an exact timeframe on his absence, he is definitely out of Sunday's visit of West Brom.
My operation went well last night. Thank you for all the messages of support. Deeply frustrating but i’ll do all I can to be back asap November 4, 2016
Ranieri suggested the 29-year-old could be out for any amount of time between two and seven weeks, before declaring his faith in Germany international Zieler.
"The hands for keepers, like the hands for boxers, are very, very important," Ranieri said in his media conference on Friday.
"I don't put a deadline because every man is different. Maybe two weeks, maybe three. Maybe five, six, seven - I don't know. Kasper wants to play Sunday. It's normal.
"Only in the night he felt something. It's unbelievable. Maybe [it was because of] the adrenaline, the concentration, that he didn't feel anything [during the match].
"I'm very confident with Zieler. Of course Kasper was in great condition but Zieler gives me confidence."
Leicester host West Brom having not lost any of their last four games in all competitions and Ranieri is happy to see the team gradually improving, while he also retains belief in Jamie Vardy in the midst of a goal drought which stretches back to September 10.
"We want to keep going and improve in the table," he added. "We're getting better but it's not only the defenders. All the team are getting better with the fighting spirit.
"Jamie Vardy's a goalscorer. All strikers have good and bad periods. It's important to stay calm and sooner or later he'll score."
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