Vardy fitness boost for Leicester ahead of Blades cup tie

Jamie Vardy has recovered from an ankle knock and may play a part in Leicester City’s trip to Sheffield United in the EFL Cup.

The England striker was replaced in the 93rd minute of Leicester’s 2-0 Premier League win over Brighton and Hove, but he trained on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s visit to Bramall Lane for the second-round tie.

Vardy’s involvement comes as a boost to Foxes boss Craig Shakespeare, whose side will be without the injured Wes Morgan (back), Danny Drinkwater (thigh), Kelechi Iheanacho (toe) and Vicente Iborra (groin).

“Jamie trained this morning [Monday] okay,” Shakespeare told the club’s official website. “He was a bit sore yesterday, but he was okay to train today.

“Thankfully he’s okay. He’ll be involved, yes. At what length, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Shakespeare ruled out the possibility of Iheanacho making his second appearance in a Leicester shirt against the Blades and said the club’s physiotherapists are working to improve the Nigeria forward’s match fitness.

Iheanacho has played just eight minutes of first team football since joining Leicester from Manchester City on August 2, with a toe injury sustained during a pre-season friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach restricting his opportunities.

“Kelechi as well trained this morning, but we need to try and improve his fitness levels,” said Shakespeare. “He’ll be training. We’ll have a decent training group and we have a decent, competitive game to play. We’re aware of that.

“He won’t feature. There’s no real major problems which is a bonus. Obviously, when players get discomfort in there, you want that to settle down by giving him a few days off the grass.

“We think we’ve done that and we’d like to push him now to see if he can improve his fitness. That’s the idea of the next three or four days.”