Leicester Duo Ruled Out of Claudel Puel Curtain Raiser With Ankle & Achilles Injuries

Leicester City boss Claude Puel will be without the services of Roberth Huth and Matty James ahead of his first match in charge.

The Leicester Mercury revealed that the new Foxes manager is unable to select the pair due to ankle and achilles problems suffered in recent weeks.

Puel's inaugural game at the helm sees Leicester host struggling Everton in Sunday's Premier League bout at the King Power stadium.

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The Frenchman, who took over from the sacked Craig Shakespeare on Wednesday, has an almost fully fit squad to choose from but will be without two key stars for a while longer than first thought.

Huth is yet to appear for the senior side since the 2017/18 campaign began due to a malleolar issue sustained initially in pre-season.

The 33-year-old centre-back appeared to be getting back to full fitness after he took part in two Under-23s games on 14th August and 8th September, but the Germany international has since suffered a set back in his rehab programme.

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Huth is not expected to resume full training sessions for another month, and is joined on the treatment table by midfielder James.

James has suffered an excruciating time with injuries since the 2014/15 season, and was absent from the first-time picture for 15 months as he fought back from a cruciate knee ligament injury picked up in May 2015.

That ensured that the 26-year-old missed Leicester's fairytale Premier League title triumph 12 months later, and has had to fight for a place in the starting lineup ever since.

James had made four apppearances for the Midlands outfit this season before he suffered his latest injury in the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea last month, and there is no known time scale on when he will return to the training pitches.