Ricardo Pereira Leicester City
Leicester City star Ricardo Pereira will again pass on knowledge and support to James Justin as the young full-back starts his long road to recovery. Ricardo picked up a serious knee injury 11 months ago and has now seen team-mate Justin suffer the same fate, the 22-year-old set to be out for an estimated nine months. After sustaining a groin injury on his initial comeback, Ricardo only returned to the City starting line-up this month, playing in the win over Fulham and draw with Wolves. But the experience of his lengthy comeback trail will provide him with valuable wisdom to pass on to Justin. And manager Brendan Rodgers knows he will do so, with Ricardo and Justin striking up a strong relationship during the Portuguese’s time out.
Brendan Rodgers said “There was a real sad feeling in the group when JJ got his news. It’s the type of people I have here. Ricardo naturally, even though JJ was in his position, was still helping and encouraging him with his experience and I’ve absolutely no doubt it will be the same now he’s injured. He will be offering him words of confidence and support. It’s just the nature of the group, they are great guys, honest guys. There is a spirit in them all and they all want each other to succeed so I’m pretty sure Ricardo and the other guys will get around him as well. It would have been great to have them all fit which would have allowed us to have a bit more flexibility. However, Luke Thomas, for a young player, when he’s come in he’s never let us down at all. Fuchsy, when asked upon earlier in the season, he played in some big games and we got really good results. There is a bit of flexibility and that’s what we’ve tried to build here in terms of being able to play out of different systems. Hopefully we’ll get Timothy back soon and that will give us another option.”
Justin deputised for Ricardo but rather than be envious of his replacement, the former Porto man was credited by Justin and Rodgers for passing on tips and tricks on the role of the modern full-back. As such, Rodgers know he will help Justin once more.
