Vardy can be my Fox in the box for years yet

RODGERS ISSUES WARNING TO PREMIER LEAGUE RIVALS

JAMIE VARDY could be terrorising the Premier League’s top defenders for years to come, says manager Brendan Rodgers.

The Leicester striker might be 33 but Rodgers says all the stats show he can be a Fox on the run for a long time yet.

Vardy will be in the side for tonight’s Carabao

Cup semi-final second leg at Aston Villa, despite limping off against West Ham last Wednesday with what was feared to be hamstring trouble.

It was diagnosed as a minor glute injury and, though he missed Saturday’s FA Cup win at Brentford, he is back and raring to go.

That is a massive boost to Leicester for the Villa clash and Rodgers believes he could have one of the game’s most feared strikers around for some time to come.

Rodgers said: “His fitness and speed are still there and I can only judge on what I see now.

“If he can stay fit, I think he can play for a number of years at the top level. He’s got a great body and a great lifestyle and he maybe hasn’t got many miles on the clock.

“He’s going to slow down at some point but his speed, movement and goalscoring is absolutely first rate.

“We want that for as long as we can.We’re prepared to wrap him up and look after him.”

Vardy came into professional football at the age of 24 after plying his trade in non-League and Rodgers believes that could be key.

The Foxes boss said: “Some players now get into first teams at 16-17 and have to cope with all the pressures and stresses that brings. Older players sometimes get written off and get one-year contracts at a certain stage. But if they lead the right lifestyle and with all the sports science, it can mean players make their careers last longer.” The thought of a Wembley final thrills Rodgers and he says players, especially experienced ones like Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel, start to realise time is not on their side. He said: “The older you get, the opportunities may become less for you, and you’re aware of that. Sometimes if you’re 21, 22 and in semi-finals or finals you think, ‘OK, it might come next year’.

“But it might not, so it’s grasping the opportunities when they come.

“Finals are brilliant for players and supporters. If you put your hands on a trophy, it’s a different feeling altogether.

“It’s something that makes you want to do it again. Once you’ve done that, then it really gives you the ambition to want to keep doing it. As a young player it really stokes you up for the remainder of your career.”

LEICESTER (probable): Schmeichel; Pereira, Soyuncu, Evans, Chilwell; Ndidi; Perez, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.