The Nigeria international returned to action in January ahead of schedule after undergoing surgery but has suffered a relapse to the injury
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has insisted Wilfred Ndidi passed his medical tests and was not rushed back from injury.
The Super Eagles star suffered a knee problem early in January and had a surgery which was expected to rule him out of action until February.
The 23-year-old midfielder, however, made a quick return for the King Power Stadium outfit after 13 days of his operation, featuring in the League Cup defeat to Aston Villa and also against West Ham United.
Ndidi has not played in Leicester’s last two games and has been ruled out of the clash against Manchester City on Saturday owing to his struggle to overcome his knee problem.
Rodgers affirmed the combative midfielder was given a clean bill of health by the Foxes medical team before his involvement with his side.
“Medically, he passed the tests and measures to show he was okay,” Rodgers told Leicester Mercury.
“He had played a game and a half. He came on here after half an hour against West Ham and came through that. Then he played in the other game [vs Villa].
“From a manager’s perspective, you’re guided by medics and himself. He just didn’t quite get the right feeling going into the Chelsea game.”
The former Celtic boss has stated the Nigeria international will be given time to fully recover from the knee injury before rejoining his side.
“We can’t put any pressure on him to force him through,” he continued. “I know that he’s the type of player who wants to play in every game.
“We just have to take our time with him and make sure he’s right for the next time he comes back.
“It’s a case of, he had a bone that’s been there in his knee, in that meniscus, and that gets taken out. Initially, he responded well to that, training and playing.
“But since then there’s been a slight reaction to the knee not having that in there. That’s just around the individual player.
“We don’t want to force it. He’s doing various exercises, jumping up and down and moving and all of that. We could easily just fire him in, but we have to make sure he’s right, and for that I’ll be guided by our medical team, who are very good.”
Ndidi has been solid defensively for the Foxes this season and was one of the most consistent performers for Rodgers’ men before the injury setback.
The midfielder has featured in 26 appearances across all competitions, scoring two goals and providing one assist.
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