James Maddison among Leicester trio left out of squad to face West Ham after Covid breach
The Foxes suffered defeat without their three senior players in a potentially crucial match in the top-four race
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Your support makes all the difference.Leicester City have confirmed that sanctions were taken against squad members this week after three of Brendan Rodgers’ players breached Covid protocols.
James Maddison, Ayoze Perez and Hamza Choudhury were all left out of the matchday squad to face West Ham United, which the Foxes ended up losing 3-2 despite a late fightback.
Brendan Rodgers reportedly took the action to underline the strength of the club’s disappointment in their actions, after the three attended a party - hosted by the Spanish forward, the Telegraph reports - following last weekend’s defeat to Manchester City.
A statement from Leicester read:
“The club has made its expectations around adherence to COVID-19 protocols abundantly clear to all its personnel.
“It is extremely disappointing, therefore, to learn of a breach that had the potential to undermine the efforts of club staff to protect the environments in which our teams train and play. Appropriate measures have been taken to prevent our team bubbles being compromised.
“We wholly expect our people to behave in a way that reflects the national effort and the sacrifices made by our communities to control the spread of the virus. Those involved have apologised for their poor judgement. Our response to the matter will be concluded internally.”
Leicester remain in third in the Premier League table, but back-to-back defeats mean they are just one point ahead of West Ham, two ahead of Chelsea and four ahead of Liverpool as the race for Champions League spots reaches crunch time in the campaign.
The Foxes were in the running for a top-four finish last season up until the final day and Rodgers is keen for his side not to repeat their near-miss - which makes the actions of the three players involved in the Covid breach all the more frustrating and disappointing for the club.
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