Brendan Rodgers has reminded his Leicester City squad that their quality alone lifted the club to third place in the Premier League table as the players bid to refind their form for the final seven games. After they were eliminated from the FA Cup on Sunday, City now has just one objective to focus on: qualifying for the Champions League. City remains in an excellent position to achieve their goal, but a run of four wins in 15 Premier League matches has seen their cushion in the top four reduce from 14 points to three ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Everton. With one goal and no wins since the restart, Rodgers’ men need to rediscover the quality they showed in the autumn to stop their in-form rivals catching up.
Brendan Rodgers said “One thing I spoke to the players about before this run-in, this final push of ours, was if we somehow lose a game, we can’t be derailed by it, The games are coming thick and fast. We’re disappointed, but very quickly we have to get over it. We have a great chance now, playing against Everton, to continue our level of performance. We’re just waiting for that moment in the game where we get that early goal that can really give this young team confidence. We’re in the position because of ourselves, nobody else, and that’s been my message. We have to focus on our own performance, forget about everyone else. We’re in the position we’re in because of how well we’ve done. With seven games to go, we’re in a brilliant position. We’ll stay in the present and do everything we can to get the result. The players will have confidence from how we played in the (Chelsea) game, how we got that intensity back, which was important for us and how we play. If we can play to that level, we’ll win more games than we’ll lose in this seven-game run. This is a team that’s a work in progress, It’s the first little blip we’ve had for 14 or 15 months, which I can understand. It’s about a process, it always has been. The players and how they’ve developed over this last period, I’ve been really pleased with. With seven games to go, we’re still in a fantastic position to achieve what we set out to achieve. The break has disrupted us, but I’ve got great confidence in the squad. A lot of our young players have this expectancy now, having done so well, that we have to live with. That’s okay, because it means they’ve done something right. If a little bit of negativity comes, that’s all part of it. We just need to continue working on it.”
