Shakespeare won’t take chance on Foxes skipper Morgan

Craig Shakespeare says he will not put Leicester’s Champions League qualification bid above the fitness of captain Wes Morgan.

The defender has missed the last five matches with a back injury and has been ruled out of Saturday’s clash with Crystal Palace.

The Foxes lost 1-0 at Atlético Madrid on Wednesday and play the return fixture at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday.

And they will be without Robert Huth through suspension, leaving Yohan Benalouane and Marcin Wasilewski as their only available centre-backs.

But Shakespeare is more concerned with Morgan’s recovery than a spot in the Champions League’s last four.

(Michael Regan/Getty Images)

“We’ll only put him in if he’s ready,” he said.

“The conversation will be with Wes and our medical department and we’ll give him every opportunity between now and then but if he’s not ready we won’t take a gamble.

“He’s trained [Thursday], not all with the squad, but I have said before it will be 50-50 for Atletico Madrid. He won’t feature against Palace.

“I haven’t seen the players [Friday] morning but I need to assess them all. We only had a light training session on Thursday for the players who played and a full session for those who didn’t.”