Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers admits he now has a “different focus” on the January transfer window due to mounting injury problems within his squad.
Striker Jamie Vardy, likely to be out for three to four weeks with a hamstring injury, is the latest to be added to a list which has seven other players on it affecting both the defence and forward line.
With the likes of Wilfred Ndidi and Daniel Amartey – Rodgers’ two makeshift centre-backs for the midweek win over Liverpool – Nampalys Mendy and Kelechi Iheanacho all heading to the African Nations Cup, Rodgers’ squad is starting to look pretty thin.
It means he may have to turn to the opening of the window for some solutions.
“It’s something we’ll be looking at. Now it takes on a different focus with the injuries that we’ve had and from the weekend after having one fit and available centre-half,” said Rodgers, whose side’s match with Norwich on New Year’s Day has been postponed due to Covid-19 cases and injuries in the Canaries squad.
“Money doesn’t grow on trees so we’ll have to maximise the talent that we have and go from there.”
Leicester may have upset Jurgen Klopp’s high-fliers on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory achieved by an injury-ravaged side, but Rodgers said that could not be the regarded as the norm.
He also felt it would be wrong to use it as a yardstick for playing future matches with the same resources as there was always a price to pay.
“Yeah, we lose our striker (Vardy), he’s a very important part of our team. Maybe for up to a month. That’s the result of it,” he added.
“We had an amazing result on the 28th and that’s down to the resilience of the players, their mentality, commitment, drive and desire. But that doesn’t make it right.”
Rodgers is also concerned the Premier League may try to catch up on postponed fixtures in January when he thinks more consideration should be given to them recovering after a hectic couple of months.
“There is maybe talk about games being rearranged for January, which I find ludicrous when you consider the period we have come off in November and December,” said the Foxes boss.
“I’m only hoping the Premier League aren’t going to look to force players to play even more games in this month, especially when you have an African Nations Cup when you are losing players.
“It wouldn’t seem right to be looking to add more fixture into that when scheduled games can be played later in the year.”
