For the second FA Cup game in a row Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers looks to have lost faith in his Nigerian import, Kelechi Iheanacho as the Nigerian will be starting from the bench at Griffin Park where they will face Skybet Championship side, Brentford later this Sunday in a FA Cup fourth round tie.
Rodgers had at the pre-match conference revealed both Iheanacho and Ayoze Perez will be fighting for the top striking role in the absence of Jamie Vardy who will be undergoing a minor surgery.
Rodgers has now settled for Perez and Iheaancho will now be hoping he gets called into action earlier than it was a forthnight ago when he was subbed on with just eight minutes left in regulation time against Stoke City at the Bet365 stadium.
This would be the fourth time since he switched from Manchester City to the King Palace stadium that the Nigerian will be starting a FA Cup game from the bench. On two of the last three ocassions, he was an unused substitute in the 2-0 defeat of Wigan in January 2020 and the 1-0 loss to Chelsea in the quarterfinals last June.
Iheanacho has started 10 of the last 15 games he has played in the competition, scoring 10 times, just two goals behind Cote D’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba who scored 12 times in 29 appearances for Chelsea to become the top scoring African in the competition.
The Nigerian averages a goal once every 88 minutes in his FA Cup career and was the hero for the Foxes last year when his left-footed shot made the difference against the same Brentford at the same venue almost a year ago today.