RODGERS: WE’RE HOLDING ON
Vardy and Evans lay-offs leave Foxes in a hole v
BY IAN WINROW and MIKE WALTERS BRENDAN RODGERS admits Leicester will start their FA Cup defence with just nine fit senior players.
The Foxes boss was hit by a double blow yesterday when he revealed sidelined duo Jamie Vardy and Jonny Evans face even longer spells out than first feared.
And he admits he will be forced to bolster his squad with the club’s kids for today’s third round clash with Watford. Rodgers’ side rewrote the record books when they beat Chelsea to lift the trophy for the first time last May.
But the manager, who said postponing the tie was not an option, faces a different challenge as they start out again on the road to Wembley.
Rodgers said: “I’ve tried to get on with things and sometimes you are dealt these hands.
“We are disintegrated by the number of injuries to top players and we all know that at this level we need our best players available to challenge.
“But at the same time we’ll always create a team that will work and fight and run.
“Our bench will all be players from the under-23 team. And some will play. So what that will look like over the coming games remains to be seen.
“There are players training with us. And they are all acquitting themselves very well.
“We are always very conscious, especially as the holders, that we maintain the integrity of the FA Cup. We want to ensure we give the best defence we can, and we have to do our very, very best with what we have available.”
Vardy will now be out until March after suffering a hamstring problem last month while Evans will not be back before April after undergoing surgery on a similar problem.
The combination of injuries and the absence of four players at the
Africa Cup of Nations has left Rodgers short up front and in central defence.
And Rodgers admits he will attempt to bolster his backline this month.
He said: “That’s something that the club will be working very, very hard to see what we can do.”
Rodgers insisted he had no problem with James Maddison and Hamza Choudhury attending the World Darts Championship last weekend, adding: “They didn’t need my permission to go.”
Claudio Ranieri has confirmed axed Danny Rose (below) will never play for Watford again but insisted: “He’s not finished.”
Rose, 31, has fallen from an England full-back at the World Cup in 2018 to a cast-off training alone while the Hornets try to ship him out in January.
Head coach Ranieri is likely to hand 20-year-old rookie James Morris his debut instead of putting the former Tottenham defender in the shop window.
The Tinkerman is adamant it is a “technical” decision to release Rose, who only arrived at Vicarage Road seven months ago, but he will not be in Watford’s amended 25-man Premier League squad after the £4million arrival of Ivory Coast
defender Hassane Kamara from Nice.
Ranieri said: “With Danny, it is a technical decision. I don’t know if it is question of fitness, but I don’t think he is finished.
“I want a left-back who can go up and down for 90 minutes.”
Ranieri, who also signed Brazilian centre-back Samir from Udinese on Thursday, will field an inexperienced side.
He said: “Our priority is to save my players for three games in six days the following week.”