Leicester City boss Dean Smith has revealed that he will not risk Harvey Barnes for Saturday's home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
After being appointed as Leicester manager until the end of the season, Smith began his tenure with a 3-1 defeat away to Manchester City last weekend.
Although Smith saw his side concede three goals inside 25 minutes, he would have been encouraged by their second-half performance, which included a consolation goal from Kelechi Iheanacho.
However, the former Norwich City boss will be aware that results rather than performances are needed if the Foxes are to stay up, with three points separating them from safety.
Having picked up just one point from their last nine league games, Leicester will be looking to end their winless run against Wolves on Saturday.
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The Foxes will go into the contest without the services of Barnes, who will miss a second straight game due to a hamstring problem.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Smith revealed that he does not want to risk the winger for Saturday's encounter, but he should be ready for Tuesday's meeting with Leeds United.
Smith told reporters: "Harvey Barnes is ready to go on the grass, he's been on the grass, but he's not actually trained with us yet.
"I think it would be a risk to put him in on Saturday because we could lose him then for the six games. I've got to balance that risk. I know he will start training on Sunday and then be ready for Tuesday. It wasn't an easy decision, he's our top goalscorer.
"He wouldn't have been able to start this weekend, it would have been too quick for him. But he would have got minutes off the bench. The risk for him to re-injure was too big for me, so Tuesday's a more realistic goal for him."
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Jonny Evans is unavailable due to a viral infection, while Ricardo Pereira is still two weeks away from returning to action as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
Smith revealed that Jannik Vestergaard will miss the rest of the season after picking a calf injury in Monday's Under-21s game.
Ryan Bertrand, who has been out of action all season, played 65 minutes in the Under-21s match against Manchester United, and he could be in contention to feature in the matchday squad on Saturday.
Youri Tielemans is expected to start once again after playing an hour against Man City on his return to action following a spell on the sidelines.
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