James Justin insists he wants to STAY with Leicester in the championship after the Foxes are ‘held by me through two bad injuries’

Leicester City fullback James Justin has insisted he wants to stay with The Foxes, despite being relegated from the Premier League last season.

Justin, 25, was sidelined for much of the 2022-23 season after tearing his Achilles tendon in a Carabao Cup match against Newport.

This second injury comes after the England full-back was ruled out of Leicester for much of the 2021-2022 season when he suffered an ACL injury in a 1-0 win over Brighton in the FA Cup in February 2021.

Before his Achilles tendon injury, Justin followed in the footsteps of club colleagues James Maddison and Harvey Barnes by making his Three Lions debut against Hungary, and was even in contention for a World Cup spot in Qatar.

However, he told Sun sports he will not mirror Maddison and Barnes in their exit from the Foxes, but will fight for the Midlands club in the Championship due to the club’s support from his injuries.

“I went from the highs of playing for England to the lows of getting injured and being relegated,” he said.

‘But I’m staying. Leicester took a gamble after I won promotion from League One with Luton four years ago.

“This club has done a lot for my career. They got me through two bad injuries, after being out 11 months earlier with an ACL, and fully rehabilitated me.

My plan is to help the team to promotion this season.

“The championship is going to be fast, furious, in your face and we can’t take a breath.

“It will be a graft with 46 matches. You can feel comfortable in the Premier League playing just 38. It will come as a shock to some who are not used to it.

“We don’t get any special treatment because we’re Leicester.”

Justin had to watch from the stands as Leicester finished the season with just 34 points.

He added: ‘Everyone is looking at the talent we had, but the final table didn’t lie. It was a bitter pill to swallow because I couldn’t put my stamp on things after coming back from injury.

“The club had to make a decision about who would join the squad and no one could have predicted that I would be back.

“Our relegation was due to a combination of circumstances. We weren’t ruthless enough when we were at the top of matches and sent goals for fun.

“We had a great run for the World Cup where we kept six clean sheets out of seven but couldn’t do that consistently and that’s ultimately why we went down.”

Leicester made about £60 million from the sale of Maddison and Barnes.

Maddison made his long-awaited move to Tottenham on 28 June for a reported fee of £40 million, while Barnes joined Newcastle in a transfer believed to have been around £38 million.

However, the Foxes quickly reinvested this money, signing Spurs midfielder Harry Winks, Everton centre-back Conor Coady, Montpellier striker Stephy Mavididi and Callum Doyle from Manchester City on loan.

They have also secured the services of Denmark and Brondby goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Justin said: ‘We’ve done some good things in the transfer window and I don’t think we’re close to finishing the things we’re doing. So more great players are coming to help us.”

In addition, Leicester have made a change to the dugout, bringing in former Manchester City and Pep Guardiola’s assistant Enzo Maresca.

The Italian was quick to instill the philosophies often associated with his former club and boss, and will look to mirror Vincent Kompany’s transformation from Burnley last season.

“It’s been amazing what they’ve accomplished and hopefully we can be comparable,” said Justin.

Kompany said when he arrived at Burnley they already had good ideas and a base at the club – and we have that at Leicester.

“He showed what Burnley could do if they had the confidence to play that way.”