Leicester City midfielder Wilfried Ndidi has reportedly suffered a hamstring injury which could potentially rule him out of Nigeria’s World Cup campaign. The 21-year-old has been one of the Super Eagles’ top performers of late and national team coach Gernot Rohr faces a huge decision to make, if the midfielder is deemed unfit for the summer World Cup.

Speaking after the Foxes’ 5-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, manager Claude Puel discussed the result whilst confirming that Ndidi has sustained a muscular problem, he said: “The red card was harsh. It was a battle between two players, both making contact. It happened during a crazy five minutes with the injury to Ndidi that left the team so imbalanced. I’m feeling bad for him. It’s a hamstring injury. I hope it’s not bad and he can make the World Cup.”

With the setback, Rohr has to contend with five players including Eddy Onazi, Leon Balogun, Tyronne Ebuehi, Joel Obi and Ndidi, who are in the treatment room ahead of the summer World Cup. The countries participating at the World Cup are due to name their provisional squads by mid-May and hopefully by then, Rohr will have a clear resolution on the injury situation.

Ndidi has been a sparkling light for Leicester City since his arrival from Genk in January 2017 and his performances on the playing field have attracted interest from Arsenal, who have previously monitored his performances. He has managed 45 appearances for club and country over the course of the current campaign and he will be hoping that the injury is not serious to hamper his chances of experiencing his World Cup dream.

Nigeria have reached the knockout stage of the World Cup in three of the previous five editions in which they have qualified but they have a much stiffer test on their hands this summer, having been pitted against Argentina, Croatia and Iceland in the same group.