Brendan Rodgers explained Chelsea target Wesley Fofana was "not in the right frame of mind to play" after leaving the defender out for Leicester City's 2-1 Premier League defeat to Southampton.
Chelsea have been strongly linked with a move for Fofana since missing out on Jules Kounde to Barcelona last month, with the Blues reportedly seeing several advances for the 21-year-old rebuffed.
Leicester manager Rodgers insisted Fofana was not for sale as recently as Friday's pre-match news conference, but he shifted to a back four on Saturday and left out the centre-back as Daniel Amartey started alongside Jonny Evans as a Che Adams double fired Southampton to a comeback win.
Speaking after Leicester slipped to just their second defeat in 11 home Premier League matches, Rodgers revealed his concerns about Fofana's state of mind.
"In terms of Wesley, it was a young player who is not in the right frame of mind to play at the moment," he said.
"There's a lot going on behind the scenes, which I understand. It's a difficult moment for him. He's a good kid who has been great for us while he's been here.
"You can't afford to be around your team-mates and playing a Premier League game if you're not fully focused."
Youri Tielemans, who has also been linked with a move away from the King Power Stadium, was only introduced as a 65th-minute substitute, but Rodgers claimed that was a purely strategic decision.
"Youri, it was a tactical one really," Rodgers added. "The two eights had done really well. James [Maddison] scored again. Ki [Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall] played well in the game. That's why he was on the bench."
Leicester fell to a demoralising defeat after opening the scoring through Maddison's free-kick, meaning only opponents Southampton (32) have dropped more points from winning positions in the Premier League than the Foxes (26) since the start of last season.
And Rodgers admitted the negative atmosphere surrounding the club has impacted their ability to hang on to leads.
"I think it's a number of things. It's a bit of desperation," he added. "We played well for the first hour of the games here at home, and then we become a little bit anxious and desperate to get the three points.
"Maybe it's a case of the feeling around the club. We have to forget the noise and focus.
"We haven't got the results in the two home games; we played well enough to. We've got to sustain it. We've got to turn 60 minutes into 90 minutes. I'm pretty confident these players will do that."
Aldershot miss out on play-off place after draw at Dagenham
Aldershot rescued a point in a 3-3 draw at Dagenham but missed out on a National League play-off spot.
Daggers striker Inih Effiong opened the scoring in the 34th minute, slamming home his 16th league goal of the season from Josh Hare’s cutback.
Aldershot were awarded a penalty at the start of the second half when Elliott Johnson brought down Kwame Thomas.
The Shots forward looked to be in an offside position and both managers were booked as tempers flared, but Cian Harries kept his cool to convert the spot-kick.
Dagenham boss Ben Strevens was then shown a red card before Lorent Tolaj headed the visitors in front in the 72nd minute.
Ryan Hill finished off a swift counter-attack to pull the home side level with eight minutes left and after Effiong was denied by the woodwork, the Daggers thought they had won it through Dion Pereira’s strike.
There was still time for Aldershot to level, though, as Josh Barrett found the top corner with a free-kick.
Ollie Banks fires late winner for NL Champions Chesterfield against Maidenhead
Ollie Banks scored a late winner as champions Chesterfield ended their time in the National League with a 3-2 victory over Maidenhead in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,108 at the SMH Group Stadium.
The Spireites, having lost four consecutive games since sealing promotion back to the English Football League last month, were 2-0 ahead after half an hour.
Joe Quigley’s fine work helped Liam Mandeville poke in from close range in the 28th minute before the forward got on the scoresheet himself shortly after, firing home after a goal-mouth scramble.
However, Maidenhead came out firing after the interval and were level courtesy of two goals in three minutes, with Tristan Abrahams slotting into an empty net after Harry Tyrer parried Reece Smith’s shot and then Kevin Lokko heading in.
But after Tom Naylor had a goal disallowed and Armando Dobra hit the post, Chesterfield finally found a winner at the death when Banks hammered in.
Wilfred Ndidi and Jamie Vardy goals secure vital Leicester win over West Brom
Leicester returned to the top of the Championship with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion and two more victories from their remaining three games would secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Enzo Maresca’s side could go up on Tuesday if they beat Southampton at the King Power Stadium.
Jamie Vardy’s 15th league goal of the season effectively sealed the victory and made up for him missing a penalty in the first half.
Leicester took the lead through Wilfred Ndidi in the 22nd minute after Albion had dominated the early stages and missed a string of chances to take the lead.
West Brom manager Carlos Corberan will wonder how his side managed to squander so many oppportunities to score, and their second successive defeat means their play-off place is by no means certain.
They did eventually find the net through their captain, Jed Wallace, with 14 minutes left, but could not force an equaliser.
Leicester’s win owes much to central midfielder Hamza Choudhury who made three goal-line clearances – two of them coming within seconds of one another.
But with both teams recording a combined total of almost 30 shots, the game was partly a tale of the opportunities that were squandered.
West Brom could have had the match won inside the first 20 minutes. With Maresca’s team playing out from the back, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall passed the ball straight to Okay Yukuslu, but he put his hurried shot over the bar.
Mikey Johnston was then involved on three occasions, seeing an effort cleared off the line after 14 minutes. He then had a shot saved by Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen before putting another chance over the bar.
Leicester made Albion pay for their wastefulness in front of goal by taking the lead. Stephy Mavididi pulled the ball back for defender Wout Faes who crossed for Vardy. His header was kept out by Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer but Ndidi converted the rebound from close range.
Maresca’s side looked set to take a two-goal advantage into the break. Vardy ran on to a long ball from Hermansen a minute before half-time and was pushed over by West Brom defender Conor Townsend in the 18 yard box. Vardy had scored four penalties from four this season, but he hit the post from his fifth spot kick of the campaign.
Choudhury then cleared off the line twice in the space of a few seconds after 51 minutes. First, he blocked a shot from Yann M’Vila and then denied Grady Diangana. The drama continued as, from the resulting corner, Kyle Bartley headed against the bar with Diangana unable to get the vital touch from close range.
Again, Albion were punished for missing their chances as Vardy increased Leicester’s lead after 65 minutes. Choudhury found Abdul Fatawu on the right and his cross was met by Vardy who headed in from close range.
West Brom finally found the net when defender Cedric Kipre’s inch-perfect pass found Wallace who slid the ball past Hermansen.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
