Big Leicester City injury boost likely to prompt change from Brendan Rodgers

Leicester City have received a significant injury boost with Harvey Barnes available to face Southampton this weekend.

The winger missed the first two games of the Premier League season with a knee injury he picked up in the final summer friendly against Sevilla. But he returned to training at the start of this week and has been declared available by manager Brendan Rodgers.

It is good news for Rodgers as it allows him to revert to his preferred 4-3-3 shape, the one he prepared his team for over the course of pre-season. The City manager, who has opted for a 3-5-1-1 system in the first two games, said at the weekend he was “restricted” in what he could do without Barnes.

“It’s great news for us,” Rodgers said at his press conference on Thursday when asked for an injury update. “Harvey Barnes is back in training so that’s really good for us.

“He’s looked excellent, he’s looked fit. He had a really good pre-season so it was a blow to lose him for the opening two games.

“He should be available, but we’ll decide whether he’s going to be in from the start. He’s looked good in training. He may be available to start, but it might not be 90 minutes. We’ll assess that tomorrow (Friday) in our final session.

“It’s always important for how we play, the width in the game. We’ve always tried to be flexible in how we play and have that adaptability. But when you’re limited on the certain profile of winger, when he was out, we had to adjust.

“It certainly opens up that possibility (of 4-3-3) when you have at least one winger who gives you that pace and width in the game.”

If Barnes returns to the starting line-up on the left of a front three on Saturday, it will prompt a battle for the spot on the right. James Maddison could play