Leicester vs Norwich on New Year’s Day postponed as COVID continues to cause chaos with Premier League fixture list

Norwich's New Year's Day clash at Leicester has been postponed, it has been announced.

The news was confirmed by both clubs on Thursday evening, with the Premier League providing further details in a statement.

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It said: "Following a request from Norwich City, the Premier League board met today and regrettably agreed to postpone the club's fixture at Leicester City's King Power Stadium, due to be played at 1500GMT on Saturday 1 January.

"The board accepted Norwich's application as the club do not have the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper), due to Covid-19 cases and injuries.

"The decision by the board was able to be made in advance of the fixture to give clarity to the affected clubs and their fans. We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption caused to supporters' festive plans."

The Canaries - beaten 3-0 at Crystal Palace on Tuesday - have been left severely depleted by COVID-enforced absences and injuries. Dean Smith criticised an apparent lack of concern over player welfare after the defeat at Palace.

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The Norwich boss lamented: "I didn't have a lot of choice with the team and the subs today.

"If that's what the Premier League want, so be it. We should never be asked in the current climate to put players through that. Players will keep topping up the injury list.

"We had three who dropped out yesterday. Max Aarons, Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell all pulled out. It's a really hard time, not just for ourselves but for everyone at the moment.

"I just told the players the half-term report: it's not good enough and it needs to be better. If they want to maintain any kind of semblance of a Premier League team, we have to turn it around very quickly. It doesn't help we only have 10 senior players."

Leicester have also had numerous COVID issues within their squad in recent weeks and have been hit by injuries too.

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It's the third Foxes match postponed inside a month after games against Tottenham and Everton had to be rescheduled.

That may well be welcomed by boss Brendan Rodgers, who confirmed on Thursday that Jamie Vardy could be out for up to four weeks with a hamstring problem he aggravated in Tuesday's defeat of Liverpool.

That is in addition to at least seven other Leicester players still currently sidelined.

"Jamie will be out. It could be the next three to four weeks," said Rodgers.

"It's a hamstring. He could soldier on, which is what he wanted to do, but the scan has shown up as that."

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Rodgers felt the packed festive schedule and the extra demands placed on players due to coronavirus had played a significant part in Vardy's injury.

"I think the fatigue element in that combination of games has probably led to it," he added.

"The players are not robots. People think because they are paid a lot of money they should turn out and play every single day of the week and that's not the case.

"He felt it in the cup game at Liverpool, where the last half-hour it was hindering his performance.

"We didn't involve him at the weekend to give him maximum rest - even though he was on the bench he wasn't able to play - and the other night he just felt it towards the end of the game.

"It's the combination of games we have had and the recovery time has made it difficult for him."