James Maddison has been ruled out of the second leg of Leicester's Europa League last 32 tie against Slavia Prague after sustaining a hip injury in the win over Aston Villa.
The 24-year-old missed the back end of the 2019/20 campaign with a hip problem, and was forced off at Villa Park after aggravating the problem.
Maddison had given the Foxes an early first half lead, before Harvey Barnes sealed the win with Leicester's second just four minutes later, and was generally been in fine form this season - bagging fi
five goals and three assists in his last nine Premier League outings.
As a Coventry boy playing for @lcfc scoring against the Villa is a bloody good feeling ? Great 3 points? #JM10 pic.twitter.com/no5LTinmmO
— James Maddison (@Madders10) February 21, 2021
Leicester play Slavia Prague at King Power on Thursday evening with their Europa League knockout tie finely poised following a 0-0 draw in the Czech Republic, with manager Brendan Rodgers confirming that Maddison won't be available.
"He won't be available for the game,” said Rodgers said ahead of the Europa League clash (via the Leicester Mercury). “He's in consultation with our doctor and specialists to see where we're at. For tomorrow, he misses out.
"We don't believe he needs more surgery. It's irritable. He went to London yesterday with Bryan, our club doctor, to get an opinion, and he's getting another opinion today. We'll then formulate a plan for his recovery."
Maddison sat out the final six games of the 2019/20 campaign as a result of the hip problem, with Leicester picking up just seven points as they ultimately fell just short in the race for Champions League football.
He was eased back into action at the start of the 2020/21 season, starting just one of Leicester's opening seven league matches, but has really hit his stride since the turn of the year - ten goal contributions in 11 appearances in all competitions attesting to how important he has been.
Leicester are already without central defender Wesley Fofana for the game, as well as James Justin - who is likely to miss the remainder of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.
Source: 90min
