Team must play to the strengths of Slimani

THE Leicester City squad needs to relearn how to play with Islam Slimani after the Algerian striker made a surprise return to action for the club on Sunday, writes Jordan Blackwell.

As a substitute against Aston Villa, Slimani made his first City appearance since January 2018, more than 1,000 days ago, having spent the past two-and-a-half seasons out on loan after a fall from favour at the King Power Stadium.

But he was unable to find a new club this summer, and because City could not afford to bring in fresh attacking talent, he was thrust back into the fold as a late replacement for Kelechi Iheanacho.

His introduction did not have the desired effect, with City conceding, rather than scoring, a last-minute winner.

Bar one header that flew high and wide, Slimani struggled to have an impact on the game, albeit it was his first outing since a fixture for Monaco on March 7, with Ligue 1 cancelled rather than resumed amid the pandemic.

Rodgers believes that for Slimani to have a greater effect on the match, the creative players behind him need to get used to playing to his strengths, swinging in crosses for him to head.

“He had a couple of good contacts in the box,” Rodgers said after the 1-0 defeat.

“I think with Slim, it’s just a case of the players getting used to playing with that type of striker.

“We’re always looking to get in behind defenders or pull it back, because we don’t usually have that same presence, even though Jamie is really good in the air.

“But when you have Slim on the field, you can wrap it in there that bit earlier for him.

“It’s something that’s a very important part of our game, from half-spaces out wide, we tend to get crosses in, but we probably couldn’t find the quality that makes the difference.”

Slimani, below, won’t be able to feature in City’s next fixture, against Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League, with the 32-year-old not included in the squad for Europe.

Against Arsenal in the Premier League next Sunday, he may be pushed off the bench with Jamie Vardy expected to be fit after a calf problem.