adminLeicester City’s fall from grace was confirmed after a 2-2 draw with Hull City sealed their relegation to League One. Ten years after winning the Premier League, the club will now play in the third tier for only the second time in their history.
At the King Power Stadium, where boos greeted the home side, Leicester needed a win to keep their survival hopes alive.
They briefly turned the game around in the second half through Jordan James’ penalty and Luke Thomas’s first goal in five years, after Liam Millar had put Hull ahead by punishing a mistake from Asmir Begovic.
However, Oli McBurnie’s equaliser for Hull ended their hopes and confirmed Leicester’s relegation.
Jordan James may have played his final Leicester City match as Gary Rowett looks to protect him from a long-term injury.
The attacking midfielder, who has been City’s star man this season, limped out of Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw with Hull that confirmed their fall into League One reported by the manager.
James picked up a heel issue on Wales duty in March and was making his first start since the international break in that decisive fixture.
But with City’s fate now sealed, Rowett said he won’t want to push James and worsen his injury, even though the 21-year-old himself is keen to risk it.
Previewing Friday night’s clash with Millwall, Rowett said:
“For a young player who has added so much value to a tough season, we want to make sure we don’t end up playing him so that he then has a serious problem that then won’t go away.
“I think he’d make himself available. We’ll decide what that looks like for the game. It will be unlikely he starts. He landed awkwardly on it. It’s still his heel.”
Rowett did say there were a couple of injuries in the squad, but added that no player had ruled themselves out.
The manager had said on Tuesday that any players not wanting to feature in the final games should tell him.
He added:
“There are a couple of fresh injuries. Players who have been trying to get through some of the games, when you get to this situation, you have to take slightly more sensible decisions.
“I’d like to hope we’ve got a pretty full squad to pick from. It’s an important game. Your pride means you have to go out there and do everything you can, the league means you have to go out and do everything you can.
“Millwall will be completely motivated to try to win the game, so we have to make sure we’re at our best to try to stop them doing that.
“Nobody’s knocked on my door yet. I don’t expect them to. But I can’t guarantee that nobody will.
“I didn’t want to say it from an accusatory point of view, I wanted to make sure that everybody who takes to the field on Friday night is completely committed to the best of their ability.”
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Abdulhafiz Teslim
