Steve Cooper will be utilising the international break to try and rectify Leicester City’s poor start to the season.
However, the Leicester City manager is without 12 of his senior players as they represent their respective nations all over the globe.
Steve Cooper knows improvement is needed having seen his side win one point from a possible nine to kick off their Premier League return and will be hoping that can start away at Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
There were two significant exits from the Leicester camp this international break, with Kasey McAteer and summer signing Caleb Okoli earning their first senior call-ups for Ireland and Italy respectively.
Okoli came into the Leicester side against Aston Villa and looked impressive alongside Wout Faes at the heart of the defence.
Danish media give mixed reaction to Leicester City ace Jannik Vestergaard’s performance against Serbia
Okoli took the place of Jannik Vestergaard in the Leicester backline for Leicester, but the 32-year-old will be desperate to show Cooper he is worthy of a reprieve.
Vestergaard has become a mainstay in the Denmark side and earned his 47th cap in Sunday’s 2-0 Nations League win over Serbia, with Albert Grønbæk and Yussuf Poulsen scoring the goals; the second assisted by Foxes left-back Viktor Kristiansen.
Danish sport outlet Tipsbladet were complimentary of Vestergaard’s display in Copenhagen, scoring him a four out of six and commenting: “Great header chance after 12 minutes, which he could have scored on, but apart from that, Jannik Vestergaard didn’t put a foot wrong.
“Strong on the ball and got in the way of several of the few Serbian attacks that could arise. Also won all headed duels – not that it’s anything new. After all, being tall as a flagpole has its advantages.”
Ekstrabladet were not quite as impressed, perhaps harshly scoring the Dane a five out of ten, adding: “Another match as the leader in the three-man defence, where Vestergaard benefited from the duels and solved the game with the ball in most cases.
“He probably should have gotten more out of the offensive set pieces, but defensively it looked fine.”
Vestergaard likely to remain on Leicester City bench for Crystal Palace
Unfortunately for Vestergaard, Okoli and Faes looked to have the makings of a really good partnership despite losing 2-1 against Aston Villa.
Therefore, the former Southampton defender may be forced to bide his time before getting another opportunity, although that may come in the Carabao Cup third round against Walsall on September 24th.
The towering centre-back showed against Serbia that he can perform well when he is in a team that defends deep, but his struggles come when he is forced to run back towards his own goal as his alarming lack of pace is highlighted.
This is not an issue for Okoli, whose athleticism is one of his biggest strengths, and is perhaps the reason he looks likely to partner Faes moving forward.