The 17-year-old has proven himself over his last five Championship substitute appearances and will become even more important following Jordan James’ hamstring injury

Olabade Aluko and Louis Page before Leicester City’s 1-1 draw with Wrexham(Louis Page will make his first Championship start since August on Saturday as Marti Cifuentes confirmed the 17-year-old would replace Jordan James in Leicester City’s midfield against Oxford.

Page, one of the brightest prospects coming through the ranks at City, will get his chance after proving himself with recent substitute outings.

He’s played 20 minutes off the bench in each of City’s last five league games and has impressed on each occasion, showing off good composure, an eye for a pass, strong dribbling under pressure, and an ability to intercept.

With James now ruled out for at least four weeks, Page gets his chance to make an impact from the first whistle.

While he started in the FA Cup against Cheltenham a fortnight ago, this will be his first league start since August, when he deputised for wantaway Bilal El Khannouss in attacking midfield.

“He will start, for sure,” Cifuentes said on Friday. “I have a lot of trust in Louis.

“He has been developing a lot. In the beginning of the season, it was new for him. It was the first pre-season with the first team, it was the first time he was playing senior football.

“He did well, albeit playing slightly higher on the pitch than what is his best. I think it was good for him to gain some confidence.

“It’s not the same when you are playing and the teams are aggressive on the pressure. We want to have the ball and a lot of teams will try to press us high. He did really well to develop during this period.

“Then we agreed with the FA and we took a decision to let him go to the Under-17s World Cup because we felt it was a very good experience for him in the long term, even if he could have stayed and had some minutes. The reality is that it was a good month for him.

“Since he came back, he’s done really well. He’s playing minutes in nearly every game, quality minutes. I think he is showing he will be an important player for us in the future. He has a lot of qualities we appreciate in a midfielder.”

With Oliver Skipp also injured, City need another change in the centre of the park. Hamza Choudhury will be the frontrunner to play there, with Boubakary Soumare also an option.

The other big call comes in the defence. Cifuentes must decide whether he keeps Ben Nelson at left-back or whether he drops Caleb Okoli or Jannik Vestergaard to allow Luke Thomas to come back into the side.

Given the number of players City have out, there will likely be a fresh face on the bench, with Logan Briggs and Michael Golding competing for a call-up.