Matchday With The Manager: Away Form, The FA Cup & Providing Opportunities

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Matchday With The Manager: Away Form, The FA Cup & Providing Opportunities

During his first pre-match press conference to be held in the King Power Centre at the Club's new training ground in Seagrave, Brendan Rodgers discussed a range of topics with the media.

2021-01-09T07:00:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

09 Jan, 2021

Matchday With The Manager: Away Form, The FA Cup & Providing Opportunities

During his first pre-match press conference to be held in the King Power Centre at the Club's new training ground in Seagrave, Brendan Rodgers discussed a range of topics with the media.

Sam Jones

2021-01-09T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Away Form, The FA Cup & Providing Opportunities

During his first pre-match press conference to be held in the King Power Centre at the Club's new training ground in Seagrave, Brendan Rodgers discussed a range of topics with the media.

Sam Jones

2021-01-09T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Away Form, The FA Cup & Providing Opportunities

During his first pre-match press conference to be held in the King Power Centre at the Club's new training ground in Seagrave, Brendan Rodgers discussed a range of topics with the media.

Sam Jones

2021-01-09T07:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Away Form, The FA Cup & Providing Opportunities

During his first pre-match press conference to be held in the King Power Centre at the Club's new training ground in Seagrave, Brendan Rodgers discussed a range of topics with the media.

Sam Jones

2021-01-09T07:00:00.000Z

Leicester City's impressive form has seen the Foxes pick up eight wins on their travels during 2020/21, remaining unbeaten in 10 away games in all competitions in total.

And following two Premier League victories on the road in the space of three away games, against Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, Rodgers' side enter Saturday's Emirates FA Cup tie at Stoke City (3pm kick-off GMT) with plenty of confidence.

Rodgers admitted that it has not been easy to play without the Blue Army present, particularly on their travels, which underlines the impressive nature of this season's away form to date.

"There's absolutely no doubt that travelling to away games without the supporters makes a huge difference," he explained. Of course for teams like ourselves, when we play at home, we really miss our supporters.

"So I think the players have done really, really well in terms of the intensity of the games and you see the quality of the games, especially as the season has gone on, with the games so tightly packed together. I think that advantage that you may have playing at home with your supporters, it means that the games are a lot more equal, home and away.

"You play in different arenas, the beauty of our boys and myself is that we're not precious. It's amazing to have great facilities, but we often have it in our lives, as a youth team coach or as players, having to make do at times.

"The players here, they've not been top-flight players all their lives so they are used to the highest level, you have to be able to be adaptable. We'd all love to have great facilities, we've got an amazing facility here and at King Power Stadium, so we'll change whatever we have to change in and look to get a result, that will be the most important fact (on Saturday)."

With the FA Cup currently the only domestic trophy yet to be won during Leicester City's illustrious history, Rodgers admitted it is something that he would love to change whilst he is at the Football Club.

Although he is likely to be without the likes of Jamie Vardy and James Maddison for the trip to bet365 Stadium, City's manager is adamant that there is enough quality within the squad to maintain a high performance level when they face the Sky Bet Championship side.

"You think of the great teams here and some of the great players and managers that they have had," the Northern Irishman continued. "It's always something to strive for though, that's the beauty of it.

"There's an opportunity to be the first [winners] and that's something that, whilst I'm here, I'll always push to see if we can achieve that, because it would be an incredible feat by the Club, so that's certainly a real motivation for us going into every FA Cup game.

"We've won games without Jamie and we've won games without James so it's also an opportunity for players to come in and show their worth.

"I trust them, but of course I want them to come in and produce, so I don't need to force anything, they just need to come in and work as part of the collective, that's always what our success is about in terms of our results and performances.

"We cannot rely on any one player, it really has to be a collective. So with those boys not available, others will come in and it's an opportunity for them to show their qualities."

One player in particular who may get the chance to play is Ghanian international, Daniel Amartey, who, after a long-term injury, has featured in two of the last four Premier League fixtures, including playing 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.

Also in the starting line-up for City's magnificent 5-2 away victory at Manchester City in September, his versatility is a key asset that can be utilised, according to Rodgers.

"Where we're at, we're probably well positioned as a squad," he mused. "I've been really delighted with Dan (Daniel Amartey).

"Obviously when I came in he was injured and he has worked his way back, come in and played in some important games for us like when he came back against Arsenal, against Man City I thought he was outstanding.

"The more I've seen of him, I think he's going to be a very, very important player for our squad, because as he's shown, I think he can play at centre half, he's played that role earlier in his career with his national team and has also played that in his club football before.

"He's obviously played at right-back here, he would be a different type of right-back in terms of how I would use him and he can also play in midfield, so I think his value to the squad is very, very important. He's someone who has really impressed me; one with his attitude and with his qualities."

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