Leicester face Roma ‘hungry’ for trophies
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers says his players “are all hungry to succeed” ahead of their Europa Conference League semi-final second leg against Roma tonight.
The Foxes, then managed by Claudio Ranieri, stunned football by winning the Premier League in 2016 and last season they secured a first FA Cup in the club’s history under the guidance of Rodgers.
And now they are one game away from reaching a European final after drawing with Jose Mourinho’s Roma 1-1 at the King Power Stadium last week.
“This is our biggest game of the season,” said Rodgers, whose team dropped to the Conference League after failing to progress from the Europa League group stage.
“This is another step forward for us in the maturation of the team. We will gain from the experience, we have shown we can complete the task. You have to embrace that.
“That’s what we have been trying to create here, a winning mentality, and for some players they have to adapt to that. It takes time and these are experiences you want the players to learn from.
“It’s something they are hungry for and we are all hungry to succeed.
“This is another chapter of the story. Our main objective is to keep the story of this club going, like we did in the FA Cup.
“We wanted to be the winners for the first time and we wanted that to be an objective in this competition as well.”
Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was part of the famous 2016 side that won the league title, now wants another trophy to add to his collection as he leads them into the Stadio Olimpico.
“It’s a European trophy, every one is important, every competition you can win is important. I don’t play football to finish fourth, fifth or sixth.
“It’s about winning trophies. That’s what fans and players look back on, those moments when you got to lift trophies.
“If we were to reach the final, that’s sustained success over a period of time in terms of finals reached and trophies won.
“A club like Leicester is attractive as we have [some] of the best facilities in the world. We have lots of talent in the squad, an amazing manager and owner, the infrastructure is there that needs to be.
“Winning trophies is what you’re in football for, whatever competition it may be.”
James Maddison and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are fit for the Italy trip, with Jamie Vardy also available after his return last week.