Leicestershire

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A new initiative highlighting the work of football club charities has been launched by the English Football League (EFL).

'Scan to Smile' will be rolled out in stadiums across the EFL from Friday until the end of January, with supporters invited to scan QR codes on posters displayed around grounds.

Each scan will unlock a short, uplifting story from a person whose life has been positively impacted by the support of their local club charity.

The subjects tackled include mental health support, combating loneliness, improving physical wellbeing, employability and confidence.

The EFL said it hoped the initiative would use "the reach and influence of football to offer fans a moment of positivity on matchday".

Trevor Birch, chief executive at the EFL, said: "Behind every club are people whose lives have been positively changed through the work and dedication of their local EFL club charity.

"This initiative gives supporters the chance to see that impact first-hand and reminds us that football truly is a force for good."

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Leicester City midfielder Jordan James will be out for at least month after suffering a hamstring injury in their midweek draw at Wrexham.

The Wales international has scored four times in his last six games for the Foxes and nine goals overall this season.

He had to go off after 41 minutes at the Racecourse Ground and Leicester have also lost Oliver Skipp for Saturday's home game against Oxford United following a clash of heads.

"Unfortunately, neither of them will be available for the next game," head coach Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester.

"JJ suffered a hamstring injury that will take him out for some weeks and the medical team is working with Skippy but he will definitely not be ready for this game.

"They are both doing really well and when we analyse the second-half performance (at Wrexham), that was definitely a big part of it, the fact that we lose two important players in the midfield."

Asked whether three or four weeks was a likely period out for James, Cifuentes replied "perhaps slightly more".

Leicester are 14th in the Championship, five points adrift of the play-off places.

Kate Blakemore
Fan writer

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The five-hour round trip away to Wrexham on Tuesday was exactly as you'd imagine on a cold, wet night in January.

Football is supposed to make those kind of trips worthwhile, but sadly it just added to the misery of the evening.

The fans were muted for the most part, likely stunned into silence by what they were witnessing and have witnessed from our performances these past few months.

The equaliser was met with a sarcastic cheer from some and despite rescuing a point late on, it really felt like a loss.

Seeing the glass half full is getting increasingly harder to do with this side. We are an enigma; a team seemingly full of talent but unable to orchestrate any 90-minute performance this season.

The 22 games without a clean sheet in the league tells the sorry tale of our defending.

Oxford arrive on Saturday and what should be a winnable game really doesn't feel like it, and I have no idea how we are going to break this cycle of apathetic football. More so, if star man Jordan James misses the game through injury as is expected.

Marti Cifuentes made some tough decisions earlier in the season, with the Harry Winks and Wout Faes sagas.

But he must make further ones to punish the persistent under-performers and at least experiment more with some of the youth, whilst cash is tight, who have been given only minutes here and there.

If his stubbornness continues, so will the poor performances and his job will become increasingly untenable. Nothing changes unless something changes.

Listen to more from Kate Blakemore at Leicester Till I Die., external

Matt Bloomfield will aim to collect his first win as Oxford United boss when the side visit an out-of-form Leicester City on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Bloomfield was appointed U's head coach on 9 January but has yet to see his side score after his first two games at the helm both ended in goalless stalemates.

The Foxes, however, are also having a hard time as of late after losing two of their past four league games (W1 D1).

• This will be the first time that Leicester City have hosted Oxford United in league action since November 1993, a match the U's won 3-2 in the second tier.

• Oxford United are unbeaten across their last three league games against Leicester City (W1 D2), only once have they gone four undefeated against the Foxes in the Football League – a four-match stint between September 1970 and October 1985.

• Leicester have won four of their last six home league games (L2), scoring 2+ goals in five of those matches. The Foxes will be looking to win three in succession at home in the same season for the first time since April 2024.

• Only bottom side Sheffield Wednesday (14) have failed to score in more different Championship games than Oxford this season (11), with the U's last two games finishing 0-0.

• Leicester kept a clean sheet in three of their first six league games this season, but have since conceded in each of their last 22.

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

It may be 2026 but people are throwing it back to 2016 in a popular social trend to show how they and their lives have changed a decade on.

And it is fair to say 2016 was a big year in history.

The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States and Pokemon-Go had people running round all over the place.

Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Drake commandeered the charts and a big sporting year saw an Olympics in Brazil and European Championships in France.

But it was a monumental year for the Premier League too.

So let's hop on the viral trend and throw it back to see just what happened in English football a decade ago.

Leicester crowned Premier League champions

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There is only one place to start and that is with Leicester City.

The Foxes achieved the unthinkable when they were crowned 2015-16 Premier League Champions.

It remains an achievement beyond compare as they were rank outsiders at the start of the campaign, and it seems hard to imagine now another team emulating the same underdog success

Leicester were led by the eccentric Italian Mr "Dilly Ding" Claudio Ranieri, with party starter Jamie Vardy plundering goals for fun and N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez running rings around the opposition.

It remains one of the greatest sporting stories of all time.

Caballero was the hero as Pellegrini bowed out

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Willy Caballero was Manchester City's hero as they beat Liverpool on penalties to win the Capital One - now Carabao - Cup at Wembley.

The Argentine goalkeeper spectacularly rewarded the faith of manager Manuel Pellegrini with saves from Lucas, Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana in the shoot-out after he was selected ahead of first-choice keeper Joe Hart.

That was a huge decision by Pellegrini, but one that ultimately paid off as he lifted his final piece of silverware with City.

Pep Guardiola was to be Pellegrini's successor and the rest was history - so they say.

Mourinho arrived and Pogba returned

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Louis van Gaal's final match as Manchester United manager was the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace which they went on to win in extra-time.

It was United's first trophy since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013 and marked the end of Van Gaal's largely undistinguished two-year spell in charge.

He was replaced by Jose Mourinho and shortly after former Barcelona and Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived to much fanfare.

But it was the return of Paul Pogba that is perhaps so memorable.

Four years after his departure, Pogba returned to Old Trafford for what was at the time a world-record £89m transfer fee.

Was he worth it? That debate is for another day.

Pardew threw some shapes

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It would not be a 2016 recap without taking a moment for Alan Pardew.

His infamous wiggle - if you can call it that - when Jason Puncheon scored for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final against Manchester United will go down in history as one of the best (or worst) managerial celebrations.

Pardew was, of course, later sacked in December 2016 after taking just 26 points from the 36 Premier League matches they played that year. Thankfully his iconic dad dancing is out there for us to admire 10 years on.

Leicester City are keen on Chelsea striker David Datro Fofana but fear they could be priced out of a deal for the 23-year-old Ivorian, who scored eight goals in 15 games while on loan at Turkish side Karagumruk in the first half of the season. (Leicester Mercury), external

Want to read more EFL transfer news and rumours? Check out Thursday's gossip column in full here.