Claude Puel is about to learn a lot about his Leicester City squad

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Jamie Vardy’s three-game suspension will shine a spotlight on Kelechi Iheanacho and the rest of the Foxes squad.

Jamie Vardy’s red card against Wolverhampton Wanderers will mean the Foxes are without their leading man for their next three games: away at Southampton tomorrow, at home to Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup, and at home to Liverpool on September 1st.

While the chances are that Vardy wouldn’t have featured against his former club in the League Cup, the two Premier League games represent important ones if Leicester are to improve on their ninth place finish of last season.

Neither are games were Claude Puel would expect his team to win but both are cases where they have great chances of walking away with the three points, while also testing themselves against teams at either end of the table.

That becomes a lot more difficult, however, when Vardy isn’t in the side. We saw against Manchester United on the opening day just how much better the team looks with him in the side; having struggled to take advantage of any openings for over an hour, the England international came off the bench and created one great chance before scoring right at the death.

Vardy makes Leicester tick through his role up top but these two Premier League challenges will offer Puel the opportunity to have a real look at his side, and while it would have nice to have the 31-year-old available all season, the start of the season is the time to learn how they cope without him.

Just how players like Kelechi Iheanacho or new signing James Maddison can cope at just 21-years-old and with a little more pressure on them is unknown – but if Puel is to find that out, the games against Southampton and Liverpool right at the start of the season are ideal times to do just that.

Leicester can expect chances and Leicester can expect challenges – whether they’re up to the task or not without Vardy will surely give Puel a lot to think about throughout the rest of the season.