Brendan Rodgers said Leicester’s Champions League challenge had been undermined by players breaching Covid protocols, after their 3-2 defeat at West Ham.
Ayoze Perez, James Maddison and Hamza Choudhury were left out of the crucial match against fellow European hopefuls West Ham having reportedly broken the guidelines.
West Ham went on to inflict only Leicester’s second away defeat of the season, with victory lifting them back into the top four, just a point behind the Foxes.
Rodgers would not confirm the identity of the players, and confirmed they will be back in consideration for next weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Southampton.
“I can tell you there was a breach," said the Leicester boss. “My objective when coming to Leicester was to create standards on and off the pitch.
“The standards fell way below what we would expect, especially at this stage of the season when we are challenging and fighting. They fell well below that. The guys would have been in the squad but as a consequence they weren’t. It wasn’t ideal but that’s how strongly I felt.
“We were coming into a very important game but some things are more important than football. You have to respect what the nation is going through and what our values are.
“From a personal perspective I was bitterly disappointed. But it’s a mistake that they’ve made and I won’t hold it against them. It’s in the past now.”
