Jordan James’ injury is the worst outcome of the international break, with Rowett now having to work out how City cope without their star man and leading goalscorer
Gary Rowett during Leicester City’s 2-2 draw with Stoke(Image: Stephen White – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Leicester City’s one hope for the international break would have been that none of their players picked up injuries. If they had to select one to come through without issue, they’d have picked star man and top scorer Jordan James.
It’s the nightmare scenario, then, that James limped out of Wales’ penalty shoot-out defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Picking up what looked like an Achilles injury in the first half, James received treatment and played on, but only until the 55th minute, when he had to hobble out.
City will need to assess the midfielder to determine the severity of his injury, but they also need to be thinking about how they replace him in the line-up. Thankfully, they do have plenty of choices.
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If Gary Rowett opts to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation he has used in away games, then there are plenty of candidates to fill in for James in the number 10 role, with three leading contenders.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid, who helped Jamaica reach a World Cup qualifying play-off final with a victory over New Caledonia on Thursday, would possibly be the favourite, given he has the experience and has been selected there by Rowett before.
Divine Mukasa would also be a natural to fill that role, and impressed in the first few matches under the new manager with his creativity and goal involvements. Albeit, he’s not quite hit those heights in recent matches.
And then there’s Aaron Ramsey. The Burnley loanee has not played in 2026 but is now fit, and nearly made his comeback from a hamstring injury against Watford, only for illness to rule him out.
He’s not played properly since October, but looked a real threat in the number 10 role back then. There would be concerns over his fitness though.
But City are at home in their first match after the international break and for the last two games at the King Power Stadium, Rowett has opted for a 4-3-3 shape, with James as one of two eights in midfield.
Against Bristol City, he was paired with De Cordova-Reid, and against QPR, he was with Mukasa. Because of his attributes, James was naturally the more box-to-box of the pairings.
He becomes more difficult to replace in that regard. While De Cordova-Reid, Mukasa or Ramsey could play in one of the roles, Rowett may be reluctant to play two of them together. That might feel too defensively insecure.
So there are three choices there. Firstly, Rowett could bring Harry Winks back into the base of the midfield and use Oliver Skipp as an eight. Secondly, Rowett could turn to Joe Aribo, although the Southampton loanee is yet to start a game under the new boss.
The third option would be to look at Louis Page. Marti Cifuentes saw the teenager as the alternative to Jordan James in the number eight role, but he’s has not had a look-in under Rowett, with the manager focusing on more experienced players. It would be a surprise if he gets a recall, even if James is ruled out.
How should City’s midfield look against Preston if James is injured? Click HERE to have your say.