Leicester City defender Ben Nelson will miss most of the 2026-27 season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during a pre-season match.
Nelson went off midway through the defeat by Genoa with the seriousness of his knee injury confirmed ahead of Leicester’s first-round League Cup tie against Northampton.
“It’s really disappointing. Sad for him, sad for us,” head coach Russell Martin told BBC Radio Leicester.
“Our job is to support him through that, make sure he still feels cared for. We will miss him for sure.”
The 22-year-old made 27 appearances for the Foxes last season in all competitions and Martin suggested his long-term absence will require the club to go back in the market for a central defender.
“It probably means we will be more active in that position in the transfer market than we would have been,” Martin added.
Harry Souttar, who captained Australia in this summer’s World Cup, will wear the armband for the Cup game against the Cobblers.
Martin praised the Socceroo centre-back’s form since returning from an Achilles injury.
“He captains his country, he’s done really well since he’s come back. I think he deserves to be [captain], he’s a real leader,” said Martin.
“We’ve some real characters and some real leaders to the squad. I think it’s really important that this club and this dressing room has leaders.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(471x244:473x246)/CNN-New-Years-Eve-with-Anderson-Cooper-123124-9952e5f00fc1425f87113ba2bfb97b29.jpg "Anderson Cooper Says He Once ‘Hated’ New Year’s Eve While Co-Hosting CNN Broadcast")
