By Nurudeen Obalola
Leicester City manager Steve Cooper has indicated that Super Eagles star Wilfred Ndidi is in good enough shape to play this weekend.
The central midfielder played 80 minutes in the 3-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier victory over Benin Republic in Uyo last Saturday but was taken off with 20 minutes left on the clock in the 0-0 draw against Rwanda in Kigali on Tuesday, raising concerns about his fitness.
Cooper, however, confirmed on Thursday that there are no post-international break injury worries ahead of Saturday’s English Premier League trip to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
“Some players are still recovering from games [international], which is normal, and some have had some long travel,” the former Nottingham Forest manager said during his pre-match press conference.
“There are no disadvantages to that as every Premier League team will lose a lot of players and they come back staggered. We are no different and we are just adapting like you have too.”
Cooper added that senior squad members like Ndidi, who has spent over seven years at the club, are key to stabilising his side.
“We have tried to maximise the international break as much as we can but a lot of players have also left to represent their country. But we did get some good work done with the players that remained,” he explained.
“With players joining late in the window we are still going through a natural period of transition. We are also still trying to implement who we want to be in the Premier League and get the senior players to drive it and embrace the challenge I am putting on them.
“Hopefully we can improve results because we could have got more points than what we have now, for sure. We know there have been positives in the performances but now we have to start getting results.
“We have to own that as staff and players and we believe we can do that.”
Leicester City got promoted back to the Premier League in May, with Ndidi playing a pivotal role as they won the Championship title.
The Foxes are currently 15th in the table with one point from three matches.
