Leicester City are increasingly confident that Wes Morgan will be fit to feature in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday after more than a month on the sidelines with a back injury.

Morgan played a full part in training with Craig Shakespeare’s squad on Friday and having sat out his side’s 2-2 Premier League draw at Crystal Palace, participated again on Sunday in an effort to prove his readiness. The centre-half is being closely monitored by Leicester’s medical staff, who will continue to assess his condition. His involvement is made all the more vital by Robert Huth’s suspension.

That has left Shakespeare reliant upon Yohan Benalouane – who pulled up with cramp at Selhurst Park and was withdrawn 14 minutes from time as a precaution – and Morgan, given that Marcin Wasilewski has not been included in their Champions League squad and Molla Wagué, who has only played once since joining in January, is recovering from a dislocated shoulder. The manager moved Christian Fuchs to centre-half for the final few minutes against Palace, with Ben Chilwell introduced at left-back, but the Austrian was unconvincing in the central role.

“It’s an option,” said Shakespeare, who will also have to assess Islam Slimani after the forward hurt a groin in training at the end of last week. “We will have to look at the injury situation. I’m assured Benalouane was just cramp. Cramp can turn into a pull, so it was just a precaution, but he’s walking fine.

“It looked better [for Morgan] on Friday. He trained with the group for the whole session. It’s a big ask for him to be fit because it’s a difficult injury to get over, in terms of the power and spring for a centre-back. But we’ll give him every opportunity and with the medical staff, we’ll see what their feelings are and we’ll make a decision.”

Shakespeare had opted to make only two changes from the first leg at the Vicente Calderón stadium for the game at Palace – where his team led 2-0 but were pegged back – and the majority of his squad undertook a recovery session at the club’s Belvoir Drive training complex on Sunday. “We know what’s needed of us so we’ll manage ourselves with help from the staff and, hopefully, we’ll be in the best shape we can coming into the game,” said Danny Drinkwater. “The physios who look after the injuries do a great job here with managing players so that’s good. I’m sure Wes is getting better.”

The England midfielder insisted Leicester’s players had been buoyed by their showing in the first leg in Spain, despite the 1-0 defeat to a controversial penalty converted by Antoine Griezmann. “We’re a confident team,” he said. “I think the result from Madrid has given us a bit of confidence and it’s only 1-0, we’ve still got a chance in this game. I can’t wait for the second game. No one can. It’s a big chance for us on a massive stage and I’m sure it’s going to be one of those games you wish you could play in when your career is over.

“To be 1-0 [down] away is still a strong position for us. The same as 2-1 was away from home in Seville – we’re looking forward to it and we’ll be ready. We know what they’re capable of, and it can be daunting for the away teams coming to Leicester, definitely. You’d hope the nation got behind us as the only English team left in the Champions League, and we’ll use what we’ve got at our home ground to our advantage. They’re a good team, but we’ll work on what we have to work on to get the game won and, hopefully, get into the semi-final.”