VESTERGAARD, ALBRIGHTON, IHEANACHO – LEICESTER CITY INJURY NEWS FOR SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY CLASH

Jannik Vestergaard is pushing to return to the Leicester City starting line-up on Tuesday night after a one-game injury absence.

The big Dane has been a regular at the heart of City’s back-line this season but a slight issue kept him out of Saturday’s 2-1 win over Watford. Ben Nelson deputised, the teenager making his first league start for the club.

But ahead of the meeting with relegation battlers Sheffield Wednesday, manager Enzo Maresca gave a positive update on Vestergaard. The centre-back and winger Marc Albrighton will be assessed to see if they can take on the Owls.

“They can be back, especially Jannik,” Maresca said after Saturday’s victory at Vicarage Road. “For sure he can be back, though Marc is still a doubt. We have a session on Sunday, we’ll see how they are and we’ll think about Tuesday. Ben has done well today but Jannik has been fantastic for us also.”

If Vestergaard does play, he will again tread a yellow-card tightrope. Ten bookings in the first 37 matches of the season is punished with a two-game suspension, and Vestergaard has so far received nine cautions.

Those nine yellow cards came in Vestergaard’s first 17 Championship appearances of the season. Impressively, since late November, he’s managed to go 12 league fixtures without having his name taken.

If Vestergaard and Albrighton both return, then City are set to have just two players unavailable. Wilfred Ndidi remains injured and could be out until early April, while the match will come too soon for Kelechi Iheanacho after his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday.

After netting the winning penalty in a semi-final shoot-out, Iheanacho could not make a similarly positive impact against hosts Ivory Coast, who triumphed 2-1 to take the trophy. The striker will now return to City, and could be back in contention for this weekend’s meeting with Middlesbrough.

Would you start Vestergaard against Sheffield Wednesday if he's fit? Let us know in the comments section below.

2024-02-12T13:49:42Z dg43tfdfdgfd