The right-back has not played a single minute of Premier League football this season, despite being vital to the team’s success in their promotion from the Championship
Steve Cooper has emphasised Ricardo Pereira’s importance to Leicester City even as the manager continues to look past the full-back for Premier League minutes.
Cooper has used 21 different players in City’s opening five Premier League games, but Ricardo has watched all of them as an unused substitute. James Justin is in control of the right-back position for now, thought to be favoured because of his greater physical attributes.
The absence of Ricardo, integral to the team’s success last season and a favourite among supporters, has been one of the big talking points in the stands this term. But Cooper has played down any suggestion he’s not a fan of the Portuguese.
“I speak to Ricky all of the time,” he said. “He’s an excellent pro and a very important player in the dressing room, for the culture. He leads by example.
“He’ll want to play games but he knows he’s in a competition like every other player is. Sometimes you’ve got the shirt, you’ve got the nod, and other times you haven’t. I’ve said before, we’re in a really strong position at right-back and whoever we play it’s all good.”
Ricardo is likely to play on Tuesday night though when City take on Walsall in the Carabao Cup. The full-back captained the side in the 4-0 victory over Tranmere in the previous round, for which eight changes were made, and it’s possible there’s a similar level of rotation in the West Midlands.
“With regards to Tuesday, we’ll see the effects of Everton, physically and with knocks, and then we’ll decide what the right plan is,” Cooper said. “It’s a game we want to win.
“The team we put out will be an experienced and strong one. You saw the bench. Whether we decide to make lots of changes or go with players we’ve been playing in the league, it will be an experienced team in a game we want to win.”
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