Leicester will be without Wes Morgan, Islam Slimani and Pap Mendy when they roll into London on Wednesday night.
The Foxes’ boss, Craig Shakespeare, confirmed that Mendy will undergo surgery for an ankle problem, ending his season.
Skipper, Morgan, misses out with a hamstring problem while record signing, Slimani, is sidelined with a groin issue.
“Unfortunately, Wes won’t make it,” said the City boss. “The first impression was it was cramp. He’s overstretched his hamstring, but it hasn’t gone into a full-blown pull yet.
“We need to be mindful of that so he won’t make Wednesday. We’re hoping that it’s a precaution on Wednesday and we’ll then look towards Saturday.
“Islam Slimani is still out with a groin strain. He hasn’t been on the pitch yet but we’re hoping to speed that recovery up and get him out this week.”
Mendy, however, will not be so fortunate and will not return to action before the start of next season.
“Unfortunately Papy Mendy had to have an ankle operation in France. He’s going to be back with us doing his rehab. He had a floating bone in there that needed looking after and he’s out now until the end of the season.
“Everybody feels for him. He was training and you could tell he wasn’t quite at 100 per cent so we pulled him out of that. We sent him to see various specialists and now we think we’ve got to the root of the problem. We’re hoping that clears up and he’ll come back when he’s fully fit. “