Steve Cooper has spoken to Wilfred Ndidi ahead of Leicester City’s return to Premier League action this weekend.
Leicester travel to the south coast to face Southampton in a relegation six-pointer as they look to make it back-to-back victories in the top flight.
Cooper is expected to have a near-full-strength squad available, with Facundo Buonanotte, Patson Daka, and Hamza Choudhury the only doubts/definite absentees.
One other player who was also a doubt was Ndidi after he and his Nigeria teammates were held in what he described as a ‘hostage’ situation.
Wilfred Ndidi available for Southampton trip, confirms Steve Cooper
Wilfred Ndidi and the rest of the Nigeria squad were due to fly into Benghazi for their World Cup qualifier against Libya before the flight was redirected to a deserted airport, where they were held for 15 hours without food or water.
They were eventually allowed to leave, however, the team chose to boycott the game and returned to Nigeria before the players went back to their respective clubs.
The midfielder has been back at the Seagrave training centre since Wednesday and Cooper confirmed that he would be available for selection.
“He’s fine, and that’s the most important thing,” the Leicester boss said.
“We were in close contact with him throughout the situation they found themselves in. He kept us updated. I know there was a bit of a wifi issue at times, so maybe it wasn’t as regular as anybody would have liked. Everyone was in contact, myself included, to make sure he was safe and well.
“Fortunately, the situation they found themselves in was resolved and everybody got back safe. He was back with us pretty soon after and has trained since. Fortunately, he’s in a safe place, and that’s including the mental side of it as well.”
Steve Cooper should stick with winning formula against Southampton
A win on Saturday would set the Foxes in the right direction after finally getting off the mark a fortnight ago.
One of the boldest moves Cooper made in the win against Bournemouth was the decision to drop Harry Winks, who has barely missed a minute of football since his move to the King Power Stadium in 2023.
Oliver Skipp started alongside Ndidi in the middle of the park in a deeper midfield role and the two complimented each other well, often breaking down any attacking phases of play from the opposition.
As the away side, Leicester will expect Southampton to attack them, which could open up space for the likes of Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu to attack on the counter and Skipp and Ndidi could prove vital in setting up those attacks.
And as the old saying goes: if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.