Thursday 11 May 2017 17:18, UK
Danny Drinkwater is set to miss Leicester City's final three Premier League matches of the season due to a thigh strain.
Drinkwater has been ruled out of the trip to Manchester City on Saturday and manager Craig Shakespeare does not expect him to play for Leicester again this season.
However, the 27-year-old should be available if selected for England's World Cup Qualifier against Scotland and friendly against France in June, even though he has withdrawn from the last three squads with injury.
Drinkwater suffered a knock in training last Friday, after coming off as a precaution during last week's 3-0 victory at Watford, and he is now expected to be out of action for around four weeks.
"Drinkwater has a thigh strain, I don't expect him to play again this season," Shakespeare said.
"He has had niggles with a hip flexor and this injury is a different complexion. We need to give him time to recover from this.
"He had a scan and it is a grade one (strain). We need to give him time to get over it but it's weeks rather than months."
Drinkwater joins Robert Huth (foot), Nampalys Mendy (ankle) and Wes Morgan (hamstring) on the Foxes' injured list.
Shakespeare added: "Huth has a foot injury. He didn't train today, and went for a scan. We'll get the results this evening but he's a doubt for this Saturday.
"Wes is not going to be fit. It's slower than I anticipated and I don't want to rush him. If he's ready for the last two games then fine but, if not, he will not be rushed."
Leicester have pulled well clear of the relegation zone since Shakespeare replaced title-winning boss Claudio Ranieri, but face a tricky Saturday lunchtime trip to Manchester City, live on Sky Sports.
"I want to finish as high as possible," Shakespeare said. "The players want to finish as high as possible and to do that we still need that drive and determination."
