Key man axed from squad ahead of Leicester City v Newcastle United after ‘heated confrontation’

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City on Wednesday night, succumbing to their seventh-straight Premier League defeat without scoring. After a brief renaissance following the Dutchman’s appointment, the Foxes seem destined for a return to the Championship and sit 12 points adrift of safety.

Adding to their woes ahead of the visit of Newcastle United on Monday night is news that midfielder Harry Winks may not feature after a ‘heated confrontation’ with his manager ahead of their trip to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday - one that saw the former Tottenham Hotspur man dropped from the matchday squad. Winks, who joined the Foxes in 2023 from Spurs, has played 22 times in the league this season, but didn’t feature at all on Wednesday night.

The Telegraph reported a confrontation between Winks and Van Nistelrooy over the midfielder’s 100-mile commute to Leicester. Winks was allowed to commute that distance under Enzo Maresca last season, but the Dutchman has tried to clamp down on this during the campaign.

According to those reports, Winks refused Van Nistelrooy’s request to stay over at the Leicester City training ground on the eve of their trip to the Etihad Stadium, leading to a ‘heated confrontation’ between the pair before the midfielder was subsequently dropped from the matchday squad. It hasn’t yet been revealed if Winks will feature against the Magpies on Monday night.

The Foxes, in Winks’ absence on Wednesday, would be defeated and ended the midweek round of fixtures sat second-bottom of the Premier League table. However, they were handed a slight boost when Ricardo Pereira returned to the pitch as he built up his minutes following a hamstring injury.

Leicester City injury news

Pereira was sidelined between November and March with the injury, missing the reverse fixture between the sides, one the Magpies would comfortably triumph 4-0 in at St James’ Park before Christmas, in the process. However, the Portuguese international could feature at the King Power Stadium on Monday, although his manager has been coy on whether he will throw the defender into the starting line-up.

“He had a great 20 minutes, Ricardo,” Van Nistelrooy said. “Of course, with the injury he has, we’re careful with him.

“He had a hamstring injury after he was back so he missed a game because of that. Now he’s back after two days training only with the first team.

“Monday is soon but he’s definitely someone we’re very happy is available and can make an impact on Monday, but as a starter it’s quite early.”

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Elsewhere, the Foxes have a fairly full complement of players to pick from with just Abdul Fatuwu expected to miss out on Monday. Fatawu suffered an ACL injury whilst playing for Ghana in November and was subsequently ruled-out for the remainder of the campaign.

The 21-year-old scored six goals and assisted 13 last season as the Foxes won promotion to the Premier League under Maresca. However, he failed to net in any of his 11 Premier League outings this term before being injured.

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