Leicester City suffer costly injury blow ahead of huge Portsmouth survival showdown
Pompey welcome relegation rivals Leicester City in a huge survival clash at Fratton Park on Saturday afternoon.
Leicester City top scorer Jordan James is expected to miss Saturday’s huge survival showdown with Pompey.
But head coach Gary Rowett is hopeful of having midfielder Aaron Ramsey back in the fold for their crunch trip to Fratton Park.
Rowett’s tough task against Pompey has been made even more difficult, with James set to sit out due to a problematic heel issue.
After missing the Foxes’ Easter weekend fixtures against Preston North End and Sheffield Wednesday, the midfielder returned to the fold last week coming on as a late substitute in their 1-0 defeat to Swansea City.
But the cameo has brought fresh pain to the 21-year-old, who remains Leicester’s top-scorer in the Championship this season with 10 goals, which has kept him out of training this week.
Leicester top scorer to miss huge Pompey contest
And although Rowett is adamant his set-back is not serious, it makes the young Welshman a huge doubt for Saturday’s survival showdown against John Mousinho’s troops.
Speaking to Leicestershire Live, the Foxes boss said: ‘We’ve got a couple we need to monitor to see how they are.
‘JJ is the main one. His heel has still been sore and problematic, which was why I didn’t start him at the weekend. There’s every chance we might still be in that position on Saturday.
‘The challenge with the injury he’s got, it’s a sore heel that every time he trains or comes on for 20 minutes, it irritates it and that sets him back a couple of days.
‘So he feels good, he has to train to then be available because we need to know that he’s fit and can get through periods of the game, then that maybe sets him back a little bit.
‘It’s not a serious injury. It’s just whether he can do himself justice coming on the pitch. That’s vitally important.
‘What will the impact of that be? Will that mean he’s then a doubt for Tuesday? It’s all of those decisions that we’ll make with the medical team.
‘Coming back from Wales he was really positive. The past few days, he’s not been quite as positive because it’s lingering around and he can still feel it.
‘In two, three, four days’ time, he might wake up one morning and it feels absolutely fine. It’s the nature of this type of injury.’
Burnley loanee to be assessed ahead of Pompey showdown
Rowett could, though, welcome back attacking midfielder Ramsay, who has been sidelined since December with a hamstring injury.
The Leicester boss confirmed the 23-year-old, who has netted two goals in eight outings this term, recently returned to training but will be assessed before making the trip to Fratton Park.
‘Aaron Ramsey is back training and we’ll assess whether we think he’s fit enough to be involved. He’s another player like JJ that’s got goals in him. You want those options on the bench if you.
‘But if players aren’t quite ready, you can’t start them, regardless of the importance of the game, regardless of the situation. Otherwise, we’ll be more or less similar in terms of the squad.’
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