Vardy is fit for his final home game, says Ruud

MIKE EGERTON/PA STRUGGLING: 

Jamie Vardy was limping at the end of the Forest match

14 May 2025 - Leicester Mercury

JAMIE Vardy will be able to bow out at the King Power Stadium on Sunday with the Leicester City striker only suffering from cramp at the end of the 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest, writes Jordan Blackwell.

Vardy was seen limping in added time at the City Ground, but manager Ruud van Nistelrooy alleviated fears that he could be denied a farewell appearance at the King Power Stadium.

Sunday’s game against Ipswich Town will be Vardy’s 500th for City and his final for the club at the home ground.

He will be hoping to score what would be his 200th goal for the club.

“He’s fine,” van Nistelrooy said. “It’s cramp. He felt the cramp in his hamstring and he will be okay for next week.”

There were a couple of occasions at Forest where it looked like Vardy might get a shot away.

But he did not manage to find the space he needed, instead trying and failing to find Kasey McAteer in one promising moment, and then laying off to Jeremy Monga for his late saved effort.

He did manage to get himself an assist for Facundo Buonanotte’s goal though, flicking around the corner for the Argentinian, who dribbled into the box and finished. “It was a good performance for him,” van Nistelrooy, right, said of Vardy. “He helped the team off the ball a lot.

“The strategy in the defensive organisation was a very important role for him and Jordan Ayew.

“And later with Bilal (El Khannouss), the nine and the ten, blocking the middle.

“They did a lot of sacrifice runs to make them play around us, and so we could attack the flanks and win our duels there.

“And then he always has moments in the game where he can score, where he can assist.

“And it was so in the Facundo goal, but also in the Jeremy Monga chance that he was also a lay-off from him and nearly got to assist.

“But the value and intelligence of his game is still helping us a lot.” While Vardy’s fit, City will have at least three players missing for Sunday’s clash with the Tractor Boys, with Mads Hermansen, Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Abdul Fatawu all out of the season. Stephy Mavididi has not definitively been ruled out for the season but van Nistelrooy said it was “doubtful” he would feature again this campaign. Ricardo Pereira could make a return before the end of the season though, with van Nistelrooy to give an update on the Portuguese star’s fitness later this week.