54MAKING A Daily Express BIG MARC

ALBRIGHTON HAPPY TO DO ‘DIRTY’ WORK

BRENDAN RODGERS has praised Marc Albrighton as the cast-off who has turned out to be solid gold.

The Leicester winger was picked up for nothing from Aston Villa in May 2014 and went on to play a starring role in Leicester’s shock title win.

The 31-year-old played every game in that fairy-tale campaign and, five years on, is still one of Leicester’s go-to men.

He is set to line up against Chelsea tonight with third-placed Leicester and he is likely to come up close and personal with Ben Chilwell, the England full-back who made the switch from the Foxes in a £50million deal last summer.

Rodgers believes Albrighton is the perfect role model, saying: “Modern-day wingers like to show off their skills and what they can do, but not so much the dirty work.

“Marc has a never-say-die attitude. He’s been an absolute joy to work with and is the same every single day, whether he’s in or out of the team. I can’t speak highly enough of him. He’s exceptional. Though I don’t know the circumstances when he came, the club got him on a free.

“If you see our second goal against Southampton, Marc is there running back putting pressure on the full-back and doing that dirty work that comes

GOING THE DISTANCE: Albrighton continues to keep Foxes in firing line from players like him. It’s vital for teams like us that players are willing to do that. If you have one player who doesn’t quite do the job, it kills everybody else.” Rodgers says he was more than happy to spoil the narrative surrounding Manchester United’s clash with Liverpool, which was openly billed in the build-up as “second-versus-first” in the Premier League. The 0-0 draw meant Leicester, who were later overtaken by Manchester City, still split the two and former Reds boss Rodgers seemed to take a mischievous satisfaction from that, saying: “I know a lot of people will be disappointed we stopped that but I understand it. “We’ve been competitive for a long time. There’s a natural tendency to look towards the so-called ‘Big Six’ clubs. It’s always happened.

“I’m experienced enough as a manager so it doesn’t bother me or the players.We just get on with it. “We’re just a team in the race. Our supporters are realistic, but that shouldn’t stop us dreaming and it shouldn’t stop us challenging. You just never know where it can take you.”

LEICESTER

Evans, Justin;

Maddison; Vardy.

CHELSEA (probable):

Chilwell; Kovacic,

Hudson-Odoi.