Update on Ricardo Pereira’s injury as Leicester City runs out of options before Sunderland

After hamstring injury, Ricardo Pereira missed just the second Championship game of the season against QPR, and it appears unlikely that he will play again this month.

Due to injuries to Dennis Praet and Ricardo Pereira, Leicester City is so shorthanded in midfield that Enzo Maresca made a joke about possibly having to come out of retirement against Sunderland on Tuesday night.

Ricardo injured his hamstring during practice prior to the loss to QPR, therefore he will be sidelined until after the international break. Ricardo, who has battled chronic injury concerns this season to stay healthy and only missed one Championship game before City’s defeat to QPR, is also hurt by the loss of such a vital player.

Then, fifteen minutes into Saturday’s 2-1 loss, Dennis Praet collapsed to the ground while clutching his hamstring. With no backups, City’s three midfield positions are now filled by Harry Winks, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Yunus Akgun while Wilfred Ndidi is still unable to return. Maresca, a midfielder for Sevilla who won the Uefa Cup during his playing career, made a joke about possibly having to dig out his old footwear.
The manager declared, “Ricardo is hurt and won’t be available until after the international break.” Dennis sustains another injury. As a midfielder, I played. I can probably play for 45 minutes on Tuesday (against Sunderland), as at the moment we only have Harry Winks, Kiernan, and Yunus.

Even after Kasey McAteer had an injury and Jannik Vestergaard was suspended, Kelechi Iheanacho was left out of the starting lineup. This is true even though Maresca has acknowledged that he provides a unique quality to his other three strikers, Jamie Vardy, Tom Cannon, and Patson Daka.

Maresca stated: “Kele, like any players who are occasionally left off the team, finds it difficult because they are talented athletes who deserve it. But it’s only for that since we had Tom and Jamie on the bench.