Ruud van Nistelrooy speaks ahead of Newcastle United match – Suspension and injury blows | OneFootball

Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has been speaking ahead of playing Newcastle United.

The St James’ Park match a 3pm kick-off on Saturday (14 December).

The Ruud van Nistelrooy pre-match press conference taking place on Thursday afternoon.

The Foxes boss highlighting some suspension and injury problems.

Ruud van Nistelrooy Newcastle United press conference – As reported by official Leicester City media – 12 December 2024:

First addressing Ndidi’s condition, told reporters on Thursday:

“He has a hamstring injury, so he’s not available for [Saturday’s] game.

Asked to rate Winks’ chances of involvement at Newcastle, the Dutchman added: “Doubtful. He’s done parts of team training, today for example.

“Tomorrow we can increase that and we’ll assess tomorrow if he’s available for the squad on Saturday, but it’s something that’s very difficult. Today was the first time he had partial team training.”

With midfield options at a premium at the moment, as Boubakary Soumare is also set to serve a one-game suspension, van Nistelrooy spoke about one of those options – former Tottenham Hotspur man Oliver Skipp featured from the bench, replacing Ndidi, against Brighton and played a decisive role in City’s remarkable five-minute, two-goal late comeback at King Power Stadium.

“First of all, he’s a very good age, a young talented player with a bit of experience already in the Premier League,” van Nistelrooy explained. “He’s a great team player.

“The way he came on against Brighton, he helped the team progress in the second half towards the draw. He’s very dynamic and can track back. He’s good on the ball, with the pass he played into Bobby De Cordova-Reid for Jamie Vardy’s goal.

“I’m very happy to have him round. We have injuries and suspensions, and he’s prepared to fill in whenever he’s needed.”

There are other possibilities to explore, including youngsters from the Academy, but the Manager was naturally keen to keep his cards close to his chest.

“It’s something we have to be prepared for,” the 48-year-old continued. “We had a week also to prepare the players that are in the squad to play there.

“We have options, players that don’t regularly play that [position] but might have to play there during the game when some things can happen.

“There’s also players from Under-21s in our sessions, like Henry [Cartwright], [so we’ll] assess him and see if he can do the job. We’ll bring him in [to training], assessing the fact that we’re missing two for sure, and Harry is very doubtful.

“There’s Skippy and Hamza Choudhury that can play in these positions and other players who don’t regularly play there, from the backline, or the wing sides. We’ve got some options that we’ve trained and you’ll see what we come up with on Saturday.”