Brendan Rodgers has stressed he is not “dwelling on the negativity” of Leicester’s injury situation as he confirmed the number of players who are unavailable remains at seven heading into Saturday’s match at Brighton.
As was the case for the 1-1 draw at Burnley on Wednesday, the Foxes have Harvey Barnes, James Maddison, Ayoze Perez, Dennis Praet, Jonny Evans, James Justin and Wes Morgan sidelined.
Rodgers at his pre-match press conference on Thursday said none of those would be available for Saturday, while an update regarding Maddison’s hip problem was that the club were “hopeful that over these next few weeks that will get better”.
Regarding the injury scenario more generally, Rodgers said: “We’ve just been talking about dealing with the situation.
“It’s unfortunate, the situation we’re in. But we keep looking to deal with that, put out a team and a way that can allow us to get a result. It’s certainly not dwelling on the negativity around it. I’m not one to go on about that.
“Of course we would love (to have) all these players and to have the squad fully fit, that would be great.
“But it’s not the case, so I can’t do anything more than what we are doing at the moment. The players are very strong in their spirit and we will fight in every single game to get the result.”
Leicester are currently third in the Premier League. Wednesday’s result saw them avoid a third successive defeat in all competitions, while in terms of league games, they have won twice, drawn twice and lost once in the last six.
Rodgers said there is “no question the lack of recovery, the lack of rest (this season) has definitely helped an injury list grow in most clubs”.
And when asked about the significance of injury lists and squad depth in relation to the race for the top four, Rodgers said: “Naturally the squads with the deepest numbers of players and of course the ones that are injury-free – of course that can be a huge advantage, when there are so many games so tightly together.
“In such a unique season, that is something that of course aids the process in getting results.
“But it’s not to say you can’t, and for us there’s still such a long way to go, 11 games is a lot of games to play.
“You can only focus on the next one, and as I’ve always said, it’s not about being in the top four or the top six now, it’s where you’re at once the whistle goes on the 38th game, when it ends. That’s when you know where you are.
“Of course, we hope in the next few weeks we can get some of our players back but, if not, we deal with it and we look to get a performance and a result.”
Maddison has missed the last three games, and Rodgers said: “He’s still continuing with the medical team. There’s no timeline on it, we’re just hoping that gradually he’ll feel better.
“He’s had the reassurance of a few scans to know he doesn’t need any operation. It’s just a little bit irritable around where he’s had the previous operation. But we’re hopeful that over these next few weeks that that will get better.”
Maddison’s fellow England international Harvey Barnes has been set to undergo a knee operation that will keep him sidelined for six to eight weeks after coming off in the 3-1 loss to Arsenal last weekend.
