Matchday With The Manager – Focused On The Target

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Matchday With The Manager – Focused On The Target

Leicester City will be single-minded and determined in their approach to the Premier League season run-in, according to Brendan Rodgers.

2023-04-01T07:30:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Focused On The Target

Leicester City will be single-minded and determined in their approach to the Premier League season run-in, according to Brendan Rodgers.

2023-04-01T07:30:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Focused On The Target

Leicester City will be single-minded and determined in their approach to the Premier League season run-in, according to Brendan Rodgers.

2023-04-01T07:30:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Focused On The Target

Leicester City will be single-minded and determined in their approach to the Premier League season run-in, according to Brendan Rodgers.

2023-04-01T07:30:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager – Focused On The Target

Leicester City will be single-minded and determined in their approach to the Premier League season run-in, according to Brendan Rodgers.

2023-04-01T07:30:00.000Z

The Foxes face Crystal Palace in a 3pm BST kick-off at Selhurst Park on Saturday as domestic football returns following international action. Ahead of the game, City’s manager sat down with journalists and broadcasters to give his pre-match views from inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground.

The current situation

Upcoming fixtures could prove decisive in defining the outcome of the season. Everyone is aware of the scale of the task ahead of them, Rodgers says, and shares a collective desire to be in a much healthier position come May.

“We haven’t been consistently good enough this season to be anywhere else,” the 50-year-old admitted in Thursday’s press conference in Seagrave. “But I’ve always said, it’s a great coaching challenge and we’ve got 11 games now, with 33 points to play for.

“We’re all really focused on achieving what it is we want to do and climbing away to safety as quickly as we can. From Saturday to April, we’ve got a host of seven games in that period which are going to be pivotal for where we finish the season. Starting at the weekend, it’s a big period of games. We’re ready to attack them.

“This is a different side, it’s something that you have to deal with. Of course, it’s the challenge that we have in front of us and a challenge that we’re excited about, making sure we get as safe as we can.

“It’s just ensuring and maintaining the confidence of the players, because obviously when results are not quite what you want, then confidence can drop but we saw in our last game against Brentford, a really difficult place, there was a fight and spirit there in the team.

“When we have that and show moments of quality, we can get good results. That’s our plan for the course of the next 11 games.”

Hodgson's return

Rodgers’ opposite number in the dugout will be Roy Hodgson, the 75-year-old’s first game as Palace manager since returning to the club earlier this month, signing a deal until the end of the season following the departure of Patrick Vieira.

The Northern Irishman commented: “It’s an incredible tribute to his qualities as a manager that a club like Crystal Palace have called for him in this moment. I feel for Patrick [Vieira] leaving his role. Roy has over 1,200 games, big experience as a manager and he’s still going strong.

“Managing other countries and international football and club football, he’s been a real inspiration for a lot of British coaches. Just his longevity and the persistence needed to be a top manager. I’ve come across Roy’s teams on many occasions and they’re always super organised.

“They will all know their job and what they have to do. It was always going to be a difficult game for us, whether it was Roy or Patrick. But that’s certainly what Roy will bring to the team and it’s up to us to break that down.

The Eagles’ abilities

Quality in wide forward areas is something that Saturday’s hosts have in abundance, with the likes of Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Wilfred Zaha within their pool of attacking talent. The latter, a consistent Premier League performer over the course of the last decade or so, has six goals and two assists to his name so far this term.

Rodgers continued: “He’s a very gifted player (Zaha) and there’s certain players that have better records against teams than others. He’s one that you have to manage the one vs. one. It’s important that he’s never left in a one vs. one duel, because he’s highly talented in that position.

“You’ve always got to make sure that you have good cover on the field. He’s very good in counter attacking situations as well, so you’ve always got to make sure that the spaces are blocked, to stop him from counter attacking.

“But they’ve also got other talented players. We’ll go there with a strong mentality and we know they’ve got players that can hurt you, but they’ll also know from playing us that we have talented players as well.”

A close battle

Nine Premier League clubs remain separated by just four points, with the south Londoners placed at the top of that list, five places, but just two points, ahead of Leicester. Naturally, that places extra significance on Saturday’s encounter, though neither side enters in good form - both have collected just one point from their last five league matches.

“They are all top clubs very close together,” the ex-Liverpool and Celtic manager added. “You have to be really focused and just take one game at a time. We have seven really tough games between now and May.

“But it really is only the next one and it’s bringing everything from the very first second of the game into those games. That’s our aim. But you can only really concentrate on ourselves.

“You look at the fixture list and we know the teams that we’re playing over this period, so it gives us a great opportunity to really push away from where we are. It’s work that we’re ready for and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.

“The biggest thing you need to have is resilience. Believing in yourself only comes from when you have that hurt and you have that ability to come through that. This is a team that throughout the season has been in adverse moments and come through.

“We’ve got to show that strength now. The talent alone is not enough. You don’t win games on just that. You can have gifted players, but you have to have that mentality, that will and desire along with that resilience to get the results. I believe we have that.

“I think we’ve shown over the course of the season that we can win games and win games playing really well. But the reality is there for us, we’re under no illusions of the challenge. We know the qualities we have within the team, but it’s more than that. It’s about consistency and mentality. And if you do that, then you’ll pick up points.”

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