Vardy, Doyle, McAteer, Yunus – Leicester City injury update ahead of Rotherham clash

The latest on the fitness of six Leicester City players ahead of the final game before Christmas, with only one or two returning to the squad in time to face the Millers

Jamie Vardy is still a fortnight away from returning to action with only one or two of Leicester City’s injured contingent to return against Rotherham.

Vardy has missed City’s last three games with a knee issue and will not be seen for a while yet, with Enzo Maresca suggesting he may not feature before the end of the year. City are entering a busy festive period, with their fixture against the Millers the first of four games in 10 days.

City will have Dennis Praet available after illness kept him out of the 3-2 win over Birmingham, while Yunus Akgun could also make the cut after returning to training this week. Kasey McAteer and Marc Albrighton are not available though, and are on a similar schedule to Vardy.

There was one more big boost with Callum Doyle returning to training. The on-loan defender, who has not been seen since undergoing knee surgery in September, joined his team-mates for the first time this week.

“He (Vardy) is still out and he needs still some weeks,” Maresca said at his press conference on Friday afternoon. “We expected days, weeks. He’s still on the process. Hopefully in one or two weeks he can be back.

“Kasey is progressing well but he’s not with us. He’s not running on the pitch. He’s still recovering. He’s like Jamie, he needs weeks.

“Yunus is close, yesterday he had the first session with us. We’ll see if we consider him tomorrow to be in the squad. He’s okay. Callum also. He’s okay. He had the first session with us yesterday. Dennis is okay. Marc is like Jamie and Kasey, he needs weeks.”

If Vardy’s injury goes on any longer, then City could run into trouble. Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka will be both leaving in early January to represent Nigeria and Zambia respectively and that would leave Tom Cannon as the club’s only recognised senior striker, with the £7.5m summer signing yet to start for City.