by James Maddison is expected to return to Leicester for the Boxing Day clash with Newcastle.
Maddison was missing for the Foxes as they resumed their season after the World Cup break with a routine 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over MK Dons.
Goals from Youri Tielemans, Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy meant Maddison’s absence was not a factor as they reached the last 16 of a competition they will have real plans to win this season.
Assistant manager Chris Davies has confirmed Maddison is no longer suffering from the hamstring injury that troubled him during the early part of England’s World Cup campaign, in which he played no part, and expects him to return for the clash. holiday next Monday.
“We just have to get him up to speed, he’s training this week,” Davies said. “He was training with England, initially he didn’t train when he first went, but then he did.
“He’s fine, he’ll train with us this week and he’s fine.
“It’s just a matter of letting him know. James came back a little later than the other guys who have been playing since the World Cup tonight, so he wasn’t ready to play, just like the other guys wouldn’t have if they came back later.
“Yes, he is training this week. I expect it to be available for Boxing Day.”
It was a routine night for the Foxes, buoyed by first-half goals from Tielemans and Perez, with Vardy killing the game in the second half.
Davies added: “It was a really good night for us, a really positive one, having been away from competitive matches for a few weeks, it was really nice to come back with a good performance and a win.
“The cohesion was really good, we had most of the team with us in our training camp.
“We were hoping this could be a perfect match for us leading up to the restart of the Premier League and it turned out to be so.”
It was an unusual night for the Dons, who saw midfielder Bradley Johnson step in on the touchline for interim manager Dean Lewington.
The club captain temporarily took over the reins following the sacking of Liam Manning 10 days ago, but spent the day in hospital following hamstring surgery.
The former Norwich and Leeds midfielder said: “I enjoyed it. It’s different, but the situation we’re in as a club, we all want to help out.
“Skip did it, he had surgery, the club asked me to do it and I was more than happy to do it.
“In the situation we find ourselves in, everyone has to fight together and if I’m called to do it again I’ll be more than happy.
“I am proud of the boys. Before the game we said there was nothing to fear and to prove ourselves against our Premier League opponents and see what we can do. We did well over the periods.
“In the end, they are a very high quality team and it was tough for the boys.”
