Rodgers asks foxes to fight through injury woes

Brendan Rodgers has challenged  Leicester to defy the odds as a mounting injury crisis threatens to wreck their bid to finish in the Premier League’s top four.

Rodgers’ side lost star midfielder Harvey Barnes to a left knee injury during Sunday’s damaging 3-1 home defeat against Arsenal.

Barnes, who is going under the knife on Tuesday, is likely to be out for around six weeks.

The England international joins team-mates Ayoze Perez, Dennis Praet, James Maddison, Wesley Fofana, James Justin and Wes Morgan on the sidelines, leaving Leicester facing a tough task to qualify for the Champions League.

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But Rodgers is trying to stay upbeat and, ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Burnley, he said: “We have had injuries of course but we have also had European football to contend with.

“I think we see it with some teams that it can prove difficult but the players have been absolutely brilliant up until this point.”

Leicester are third, five points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea, with the top four guaranteed a place in Europe’s elite club competition.