Leicester City's Islam Slimani (left) and Riyad Mahrez as they warm UP at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England in this October 18, 2016 file photo.
London: Manchester United and Liverpool have each lost an important player, but in the Premier League it is Leicester City for whom the Africa Cup of Nations is the biggest inconvenience.
While United centre-back Eric Bailly has been called up by the Ivory Coast and Liverpool have lost Senegalese flier Sadio Mane, Leicester have had to cede Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Daniel Amartey.
Fifteenth in the table, Leicester are fighting to avoid being dragged into a relegation dogfight and left-back Christian Fuchs says it is a chance for the squad's fringe players to prove their worth.
"These are very essential players for us," Fuchs told local newspaper the Leicester Mercury.
"We can talk about how it will hurt us and make us weaker, but it is the time for the other guys to step up and show they are needed."
Mahrez, 25, was named African Player of the Year last week for his starring role in Leicester's 5,000-1 title triumph, having also been named England's Players' Player of the Year for last season.
Although he has gone off the boil this term, the quicksilver Algerian winger remains a key figure for Leicester and with seven goals in all competitions he is the club's leading scorer.
He is joined in Algeria's squad by Slimani, who has scored six goals since his club-record £29m ($35.3m) switch from Sporting Lisbon.
Completing the triumvirate is Ghana midfielder Amartey, but his compatriot Jeff Schlupp remains at Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri's disposal after missing out on selection by Avram Grant.
While the three absentees will be missed, Ranieri can count himself lucky that Nigeria are not among the 16 teams assembled in Gabon.
Nigerian forward Ahmed Musa scored twice as Leicester came from behind to beat Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup last Saturday and his international team-mate Wilfred Ndidi has just arrived in a £15m move from Genk.
