Leicester City know that anything other than a win won’t be enough for their ongoing survival battle.
The Foxes play West Ham United on Thursday and have been given a lifeline to reduce the gap to 17th back down to two points after Wolverhampton Wanderers were beaten by Fulham on Tuesday night.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 17 |  WolvesWolves | 27 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 37 | 56 | -19 | 22 |
| 18 |  IpswichIpswich | 26 | 3 | 8 | 15 | 24 | 54 | -30 | 17 |
| 19 |  LeicesterLeicester | 26 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 25 | 59 | -34 | 17 |
| 20 |  SouthamptonSouthampton | 27 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 19 | 65 | -46 | 9 |
Ruud van Nistelrooy remains committed to Leicester despite growing signs of unrest amongst the King Power Stadium faithful around his future.
Some Foxes fans demanded Van Nistelrooy be sacked after last week’s embarrassing loss against Brentford but, after two Leicester coaches were axed on Monday, it appears the Dutchman has the backing of the hierarchy.
West Ham was the side the Foxes boss faced in his first game in charge of Leicester, winning 3-1, and he will be hoping for a similar result.
Managed by Graham Potter, the Hammers secured an unlikely win against Arsenal in their last outing, however, Potter is going to be without several key players for the must-win fixture.
West Ham injury news latest as Lucas Paqueta and four others ruled out
Van Nistelrooy needs every little advantage he can get when it comes to the ongoing survival battle and confirmation from Potter that Lucas Paqueta won’t be available is a big update.
Paqueta missed the Arsenal win after picking up an ankle injury in training and will be joined by Vladimir Coufal on the sidelines.
| West Ham players out injured |
| Lucas Paqueta |
| Vladimir Coufal |
| Crysencio Summerville |
| Niclas Fullkrug |
| Michail Antonio |
“Both are progressing, but both won’t make the squad on Thursday, but they’re making progress,” Potter said. “Vladi certainly has a chance for Newcastle next Monday. With Lucas, we’ll just have to see how he responds, but certainly for Leicester, no.”
Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug are also ruled out of the game at the London Stadium as well as Michail Antonio, who remains a long-term absentee.
Leicester City injury news
Thankfully for Leicester, there aren’t nearly as many injuries to contend with.
The club are doing ‘everything they can’ to get James Justin ready for Thursday after he missed last week’s defeat with an injury.
Ricardo Pereira has been back in training with the first-team squad but is some way off match fitness and therefore is unlikely to be in contention to start – never mind the bench.
Abdul Fatawu is still the only long term issue for the Foxes. Fatawu posted an injury update where he showed details of his recovery but it’s unlikely fans will see him before next season.