Nelson, Alves, Chaplin - Leicester City injury news for Northampton

Leicester City boss Russell Martin has provided an injury update on his squad ahead of this weekend's Carabao Cup first-round clash against Northampton Town.

The Foxes' six-week pre-season schedule came to an end last week with two narrow defeats to Coventry City and Genoa. However, the summer ended on a negative note after Ben Nelson was forced off with a knee injury against the Italian side.

Unfortunately, it's bad news for Nelson and Leicester, with the defender set to miss the majority of the season.

Will Alves, Conor Chaplin and Alex McCarthy missed the weekend's double-header altogether. Martin said that Alves would be back for the cup game, but insisted that Chaplin and McCarthy could be given another week to fully recover from their minor knocks.

The Leicester boss spoke to the media on Friday afternoon and here is the latest injury news...

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Potential return date: End of season

Ben Nelson's knee ligament injury against Genoa was a huge blow for City. The defender has looked superb throughout pre-season and was in fine form once again against Genoa.

However, late in the first half, he went down holding his right knee after a tangle of legs. Nelson received treatment and appeared to be in some pain before being helped down the tunnel by two members of staff.

"Really disappointing with Ben," said Martin. "It's really sad for him and us. He’ll be out for the majority of the season. He ruptured his ACL.

"He requires surgery next week. So now our job with Ben, who's an outstanding young player and young man, is to support him through that and to make sure he still feels part of it.

"I spoke to him this week already about it. He'll have a role to play at some point for sure, but we need to get his operation done and then see what he wants to do and how he can help. There's many ways he can help because he's an intelligent young man.

"I'm really disappointed because he's a huge asset to this football club, on and off the pitch. We will miss him for sure. It's probably the only negative that we've had in pre-season and it's a big one."

Potential return date: Northampton (August 8)

After impressing in pre-season, Will Alves' fitness raised concerns among fans when he missed both friendlies at the weekend. The attacking midfielder also trained separately from his teammates during the open training session.

Fortunately, Alves' issue isn't a serious one and he will be in the team against Northampton. “Will is back fit," Martin confirmed on Friday.

Potential return date: Notts County (August 15)

Summer signing Chaplin missed last week's double-header and open training session due to a knock, LeicestershireLive understands. The 29-year-old was in attendance to take pictures with supporters after the session and was also at the King Power Stadium to watch the Genoa defeat.

The issue isn't thought to be anything serious, but he is out for this weekend's game. Martin said: "With Conor, it’ll probably be another week or so - so not tomorrow, but hopefully for Notts County."

Potential return date: Northampton (August 8) or Notts County (August 15)

McCarthy's case is very similar to Chaplin and after missing the last week, the goalkeeper will be hoping to be involved this weekend. He has returned to training and is in contention to feature.

"Alex is training, so we’ve just got to make a decision whether it’s too early or not to put him back in," City boss Martin said.

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