Latest Leicester City news as Ricardo Pereira’s injury nightmare handed fresh blow seven days after return

Leicester City defender Ricardo Pereira missed Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United due to a minor muscle injury, Ruud van Nistelrooy confirmed.

Ricardo made his return to action in last week’s 1-0 loss to Chelsea after suffering a hamstring injury in November.

The right-back sustained the problem in the 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town, missing 19 games.

On Sunday, Pereira was left out of the 20-man squad for the loss to United with Kasey McAteer replacing him on the bench.

After his side’s 20th defeat of the Premier League season, van Nistelrooy revealed how the Portuguese had sustained another injury.

Asked if the 31-year-old was OK, he replied: “No, unfortunately not. He picked a small injury the day before yesterday [Friday]

He tried it in training yesterday but he has a minor muscle injury. Hopefully it won’t be too long.”

Leicester are not back in action until Wednesday April 2 when they travel to Manchester City.

Van Nistelrooy was coy on his response if Ricardo would be back for the trip to the Etihad, answering “maybe” when asked on the likelihood of him returning.

Ricardo came off the bench in the 84th minute at Stamford Bridge last week and showed encouraging signs of returning to his best.

Last season, in the Championship, he played 45 times in all competitions as an inverted full-back under Enzo Maresca

Unfortunately, his injury problems that have constantly stopped him from playing throughout his time at Leicester have reappeared this season