Leicester City boss Marti Cifuentes declined to elaborate on the reasons behind Harry Winks’ absence after the midfielder missed the 3-1 triumph over Derby.
It marked the first time this season that Winks had not been included in the City matchday squad, with the England midfielder having started the previous 13 Championship fixtures.
Cifuentes stated before kick-off that Winks’ exclusion was due to a “technical decision”, and when asked to further explain what that entailed, the manager replied: “I just said it’s a technical decision. I want to focus on the players who were on the pitch today who did an excellent job.”
When pressed again on whether he had a good relationship with Winks, Cifuentes simply repeated: “Technical decision.”
According to The Telegraph, Winks was omitted following issues during training sessions this week and during the build-up to the Sheffield United match.
Winks had been withdrawn at half-time in that defeat to the Blades, with Boubakary Soumare replacing him.
But with Soumare picking up a knee problem, it was Oliver Skipp who stepped in at the base of midfield. He produced one of his strongest performances in a City shirt, also netting his first goal for the club.
Skipp’s strike was the second of three goals in an outstanding first half from City, a spell which drove them to their first win in three games and lifted them above Derby and into the top half.
With Winks unavailable and Soumare sidelined, Hamza Choudhury — typically deployed as a right-back under Cifuentes — will now act as backup to Skipp in the holding midfield role.