PREMIER LEAGUEGUTS & GLORY
Now Foxes don’t chicken out
BRENDAN RODGERS insists that Leicester have the guts to slog it out with the Premier League’s elite.
Leicester are third and just two points off the top after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Everton – but they were similarly placed last season and faltered.
Rodgers’ men recovered from 1-0 down at half-time to get a deserved point thanks to Youri Tielemans’ leveller.
They are now unbeaten in nine games in all competitions and Rodgers feels they have made huge progress since a 2-1 loss at Goodison Park last season.
That defeat sparked the start of a collapse as feeble Foxes took just seven points from their final seven games to finish fifth and miss out on Champions League selection.
But boss Rodgers, above, is increasingly confident his Foxes will last the course this time after their Goodison fightback.
He said: “When we came here last July we went 1-0 behind and then 2-0 down and didn’t take anything from the game.
“This time we made a good start and when you make a good start and concede it can sometimes really deflate the team.
“But we showed that courage to keep playing and getting on the ball and keep attacking the game.
“The players showed that ability to dig deep and get a result and that is so important in any team that you have that spirit to come back and play that well.
“With maturity and with these games and the knocks the team have taken we are looking to develop how we respond.
“A year ago when we went behind we weren’t so good but you can see the development in the team, the maturity in how they play and the quality of their game.
“We are seeing this team are learning and developing all the time. Our idea is to create goals, score goals and defend with great spirit. Some of the quality of our play – our movement and ability – I was so happy.”
Leicester’s display was all the more impressive because they were without their top scorer Jamie Vardy, who has had a minor hernia operation. Rodgers, whose Foxes host Leeds on Sunday, added: “There is arguably nobody in the world that offers you that penetration in the last line that Jamie Vardy gives you.
“When Jamie doesn’t play you have to play in a different way.”
Former Newcastle forward Ayoze Perez led the line in Vardy’s absence. “The mentality in the team is improving, it’s growing, for ourselves as a big team, a quality team,” he said.
“That’s why we’re up there, fighting with the best teams in the league and we’re proving it in every game we play.
“That’s going to take us into a good place, from now to the end of the season.”