Brendan Rodgers is counting the cost of Jamie Vardy’s latest injury but insists Leicester will cope after rediscovering their mental “toughness”.
Vardy returned to the Foxes’ side earlier this month after being out since a hamstring injury on December 28 in the win over Liverpool.
The talisman’s comeback helped City to successive Premier League victories over Burnley and then Leeds, when the veteran,35, went off injured.
Rodgers has now confirmed the star could be sidelined for a month with a knee injury which has ruled him out of Thursday's Europa Conference League visit by Rennes.
The Leicester boss has had to also abort a planned first appearance of the season for defender Wesley Fofana,21, who has Covid after battling back from a broken leg.
Rodgers, whose side visit Arsenal on Sunday, said: "Vards got injured in the last game and will be out for a few weeks which is a shame.
“It is really unfortunate for the two guys and in particular Wesley who has been building up to this moment.
“Hopefully Wesley will be OK for the weekend and with Vards we just keep monitoring that and see how quickly we can get him back.”
Leicester have won their last three games including thumping Randers to set-up Thursday's last 16 first leg clash with Rennes.
Rodgers, whose side are 12th, added: “We want to finish as high as we can in the League and go as far as we can in the Cup.
“Over the last number of weeks , the performance level has definitely improved.
“We have got some good results and the trust in the team is back with each other again and the work-rate and mentality.
“We didn’t play the best football over the course of the Leeds game at times but we showed that spirit and that ability to dig in ,which is so important for any good team.
“If you don’t quite play your best, to be able to get a result shows your spirit and mentality and that is something that in the early parts of this season we hadn’t quite seen that.
“But you have now seen the toughness and togetherness in the team and the quality of our football has been much better.
“We want to continue with that form.”
French club Rennes are fourth in Ligue 1 and are the highest scorers behind PSG.
Rodgers assessed: “It is a great test.”
