James Maddison’s availability for Leicester City’s trip to Southampton on Friday night currently appears to be uncertain.
The playmaker was thought to have been a doubt for his side’s encounter with Burnley at the weekend but was able to play for a large portion of the match despite carrying an ankle injury.
However, as quoted by injury analyst Ben Dinnery, Brendan Rodgers was coy about Maddison’s condition when discussing his decision to fight through the pain and play in the Foxes’ 2-1 win over the Clarets. He said:
He did really well to put himself out there. He’s hardly trained. He could easily have not played, but he wanted to try it. We felt that if he could give us an hour, he’d have done really well.
Maddison has been a crucial player for Leicester this season and will be desperate to continue his strong run of form at Southampton later this week.
Read Southampton’s verdict
It’s never good to see a player struggling with an injury, but it’d be an almighty boost for Saints if they don’t have to come up against Maddison on Friday night.
This season, it’s felt as though the team have struggled to get out of the blocks quickly to close players down outside the box, affording them chances to pepper Angus Gunn’s goal with shots from range.
Allowing a player of Maddison’s quality the opportunity to do so at St Mary’s would be asking for trouble, and he has already proven in his first couple of seasons in the Premier League that he can turn games on their heads almost single-handedly.
Whoever Rodgers selects to face Southampton on Friday, it will be a stern test. However, Maddison’s involvement would make life a whole lot harder for Saints.
