Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers continues to put on a positive front despite Leicester City falling into the relegation zone with a last-gasp defeat to Crystal Palace. Rodgers reiterated that City’s fate remains in their hands despite a concerning performance at Selhurst Park, his side outshot 31 to three, the biggest gulf in any Premier League game this season. The final of those efforts from the Eagles gave them victory, Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring in the last minute of injury time. City have 10 matches remaining to go to get the points they need, and still have a number of fellow relegation battlers to play. But, while hope is dwindling among supporters, Rodgers is not losing faith.
Asked if the shot count was a concern,
Brendan Rodgers said: “Absolutely. It’s where the season has been for us, both in terms of attacking and defending. Like I say, there’s plenty of effort and spirit there. The confidence is quite where we want it to be, but the players are working hard.”
Then asked if “effort and spirit” were enough to keep his side up,
Brendan Rodgers replied: “Well, we’ve got 30 points to play for. We have 10 games to go. It’s certainly going to need more than that, otherwise you will suffer. We need to be better than that of course. We have shown it, just not consistently.”
It is the first time City have ended the day in the relegation zone since October, when their good run of form in the autumn saw them fight back from a dreadful start. That experience gives Rodgers faith that their fall into the drop zone won’t have a psychological impact.
Brendan Rodgers said: “Everything’s in our control. We have a lot of points to play for. We’ve been in the position before and dealt with that adverse moment and got ourselves out of it. We have 10 games to go. The next game’s a massive game. We have two home games against teams we need to be getting points against. We have to focus on ourselves, our performance, which will hopefully take the results. The rest will look after itself.”
