Leicestershire

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The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Leicester City suffered a "sucker punch" in their fight for Championship survival when they failed to beat already relegated crisis club Sheffield Wednesday, says former Foxes defender Michael Morrison.

Monday's 1-1 draw with the Owls left Leicester in the bottom three with five games remaining.

And with the Foxes managing only one win from 15 league games since early January, Morrison says they missed the chance to take control of their own destiny.

"They have probably got to win three games to get over the line, especially with [relegation rivals] Portsmouth having a game in hand," he told BBC Radio Leicester.

"It was a real sucker punch not to go get that win [at Sheffield Wednesday]. As a football club you need to take advantage of these moments and that was certainly one that was missed .

"You could look back at the end of the season and say that was 'the point where it looked really dangerous and look where we got relegated'.

"It was such an opportunity to get out of that relegation zone, which then brings together that confidence and that bit of life in that fight."

You can listen to more interview and analysis on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast on BBC Sounds.

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Leicester City interim boss Gary Rowett is hopeful midfielder Jordan James could return for Saturday's Championship match at home to Swansea City (15:00 BST).

The 21-year-old has missed the Foxes' past two games with an Achilles tendon injury he sustained while playing for Wales in their World Cup play-off defeat by Bosnia-Herzegovina last month.

"He's done some work this morning (Thursday) and we'll see how he feels after that. We're hopeful he might be available for the game; if he's not I'm pretty sure 100% he'll be available for the next one," Rowett told BBC Radio Leicester.

"We want to give him the best chance possible and we'll probably make a decision on that tomorrow (Friday)."

Leicester have drawn both their games in James' absence and Rowett is keen to get him back as soon as possible.

"His heel was really, really bruised and every time you put your foot down, decelerate or land, it creates not a nice feeling so what feels like a relatively innocuous injury just keeps rolling onto another day and until he feels fine there's no point us putting him out there or asking him to try," he added.

Leicester this week failed with their appeal against a deduction of six points for financial irregularities and the head coach is pleased any doubt is now at an end.

"The fact that nothing has changed gives great clarity to the group for the last five games, so I'm pleased it's done now rather than two or three games down the line where it might have a material impact on what happens," he said.

Leicester are currently 22nd in the Championship table, one point short of safety with five games remaining.

Leicester City will hope to break out of the bottom three as they host Swansea City on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Foxes escaped a loss at Hillsborough on Monday with an 84th-minute equaliser from Jordan Ayew but their point still leaves them one behind 21st-placed Portsmouth.

Meanwhile Swansea have little to play for in mid-table but will be keen to end their four-match winless streak.

• Leicester have won eight of their last 10 league games against Swansea (D1 L1), winning each of the last three by the same 3-1 scoreline.

• Swansea are winless in their last 13 away league games against Leicester (D4 L9) since a 3-2 victory in October 1950.

• Since Gary Rowett's first game in charge of Leicester City on 21 February, the Foxes have drawn more games than any other Championship side (6). They've also had the second most shots in that time (136), behind only Middlesbrough (193).

• Swansea City have lost 12 away league games this season, also losing 12 in their last campaign. Only once in their previous 22 seasons have they lost more, with 13 defeats in the 2016-17 Premier League.

• Swansea's Zan Vipotnik has scored the most goals in the Championship this season, netting 20. The last Swans player with more in a league season was Joël Piroe in 2021-22 (22).

"Has the place become that poisonous and that toxic between the board, the management, the fans and the players, that nobody knows how to get their head above water?

"It just seems like such a strange circumstance to me and I can't work out how Leicester have fallen in 10 years from the team that won the Premier League to this."

The 72+ team are joined by Chelmsford City striker Lyle Taylor to reflect on a disappointing draw for relegation-threatened Leicester City against basement side Sheffield Wednesday and discuss the squad's mentality.

Listen to the latest episode of the 72+ podcast on BBC Sounds