Gray’s cameo wins praise from Rodgers

BACK IN ACTION: Watford goalscorer Craig Dawson, left, clears the ball from City striker Jamie Vardy. Below, Ben Chilwell wheels away chased by James Maddison after his thunderbolt had given City the lead at Vicarage Road

LEICESTER City manager Brendan Rodgers heaped praise on Demarai Gray after the winger’s excellent cameo in the 1-1 draw with Watford.

A dramatic finale marked City’s return to Premier League action with Ben Chilwell and Craig Dawson both scoring in injury time to ensure the sides shared the points.

Chilwell’s stunning drive was set up by a crossfield pass from Gray, who swung the momentum City’s way when he was introduced for Harvey Barnes.

Gray looked sharp from his first touch of the ball to the final whistle, setting up Marc Albrighton’s strike against the post and creating shooting opportunities for himself, before assisting Chilwell’s goal.

It was a display that earned plaudits from his manager.

“I thought he was brilliant and I said that afterwards,” said Rodgers of Gray.

“We talked about it over the last couple of weeks that, strategically, it will be so, so important that the subs are ready.

“We have five subs we can make. But also they have to come in and make an impact.

“I didn’t need all of them today and that is a testament to the players’ fitness and the trust I have with them. The guys that did come in were very good.

“Demarai was outstanding. He has shown that since coming back after lockdown. He has been very good in training. He was very good in the Aston Villa game we played behind closed doors. He scored in that. I thought he took that into the game and he was excellent. That’s nice he can come in and make the impact. We will definitely need the players to do that.”

In the end, Chilwell’s goal did not result in the three points it deserved, with City conceding an injury-time overhead kick from Dawson.

But Rodgers said it was not a case of his team failing to clear their lines – it was just bad fortune.

“I felt we were deserving of the win, especially in the second half as the game went on,” said Rodgers. “We showed a really good level of fitness.

“The first 10 minutes was a bit frantic for both teams and the situation was strange. Then the game settled down. There were spells in the game where we had good control and threatened.

“Then the game opened up in the second half, Ben Foster has made a couple of fantastic saves and then we scored a brilliant goal right at the end, which I thought we were deserving of.

“It was so unfortunate. I felt it was a long throw and corner which may undo us. But we dealt well with crosses into the box all game. If you analyse it back, the luck went against us. It goes over Jamie Vardy’s head, it hits the guy’s toe, he is not even aware of it, then it pops up to the player who finishes it very well.

“So from that, obviously there is disappointment, there were chances to win the game. We end up taking a point, which takes us closer to where we want to go with a game less.”