Harvey Barnes to miss 6 weeks & needs surgery after suffering knee injury

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that Harvey Barnes will be out for at least six weeks after picking up a knee injury.

Barnes suffered the blow in the second half of his side's 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. Reaching to control the ball, his knee buckled and he collapsed to the turf. After receiving treatment his leg was heavily strapped and he was then stretchered off.

After the game, Rodgers told talkSPORT that Barnes would require surgery to correct the problem. He also confirmed that the injury is likely to keep the 23-year-old out for at least six weeks. This means that Barnes will miss England's World Cup qualifying games against San Marino, Albania and Poland later this month.

It also rules him out at a crucial juncture in Leicester's season with the race for Champions League qualification hotting up. The Foxes currently sit third in the Premier League with games against Burnley, Brighton and Sheffield United up next.

However, they have a long list of injuries that will hamper their chances of finishing in the top four. Aside from Barnes, James Justin, James Maddison, Ayoze Perez, Dennis Praet and Wes Morgan are also out.

Jonny Evans was also forced off in the second half against Arsenal. Rodgers explained that this was due to a calf strain, with Evans set to have a scan to reveal the full extent of the problem imminently.

These two injuries, plus the defeat, capped off a truly miserable 72 hours for Leicester. On Thursday they were dumped out of the Europa League by Slavia Prague, who beat them 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.

Rodgers will be hoping that these disappointments do not lead to a slide similar to last season, where the Foxes won just three of their final 12 games and dropped out of the top four on the final day.