RODGERS: HE’S STILL A GOAL MACHINE

LEICESTER boss Brendan Rodgers says Jamie Vardy could be terrorising the Premier League’s top defenders for years to come. Vardy might be 33 but Rodgers says all the stats show he can be a Fox on the run for ages yet. The former England international comes back into the side for tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Aston Villa, having limped off against West Ham last Wednesday. The initial fears were that it was a hamstring injury but thankfully it was diagnosed as a minor glute injury, and though Vardy missed Saturday’s FA Cup win at Brentford he’s back and raring to go. And that is a massive boost to Leicester with the tie finely balanced at 1-1 – and Rodgers firmly believes he could have one of the game’s most feared strikers around for some time yet.

The Foxes boss said: “I can only judge on what I see now, but his fitness and speed is still there. If he can stay fit he can still play for a number of years at the top level.

“He’s got a great body and a great lifestyle and it could be that he maybe hasn’t got so many miles on the clock.

“There’s going to be a biological reason that he’s going to slow down at some point. But if you assess him now, his speed, his movement and his goalscoring is absolutely first rate.

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

Vardy came into the game late after plying his trade in non-league and Rodgers believes that could be the key.

He added: “Some players now get into first teams at 16-17 and have to cope with all the pressures and stresses that brings. But with older players they sometimes get written off and get one-year contracts when they get to a certain stage.

“But if they lead the right lifestyle and with all the sports science, it’s a combination which can mean players making their careers last longer.”

The thought of a Wembley final thrills

Rodgers, but he says the players, especially older ones like Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel, start to realise that time is not on their side.

He added: “The older you get, the opportunities may become less for you, and you’re aware of that.

“Sometimes if you’re 21, 22, and you’re 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 do come.

“Finals are brilliant for players and for 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.”