Rodgers On Pre-Season, New Signings & Overall Ambitions
- Leicester City head to Cheltenham Town in pre-season on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off)
- Brendan Rodgers has discussed the progress made by Youri Tielemans, Ayoze Pérez and James Justin
- The new Foxes trio featured during the 1-0 win at Scunthorpe United on Tuesday night
- Rodgers also says City are determined to improve during the 2019/20 Premier League season
The Foxes trio starred in Tuesday’s opening 1-0 victory over Scunthorpe United and could feature again at Cheltenham Town on Saturday afternoon (3pm BST kick-off).
Rodgers utilised two alternate line-ups in either half of the fixture at Glanford Park earlier in the week as the squad continues to build a base level of football fitness.
Speaking this week, the City manager discussed the importance of adding Tielemans, Pérez and Justin to his matchday options ahead of the 2019/20 Premier League season.
“I was very pleased with the focus at Scunthorpe because at times pre-season games can be slow affairs but our ambition, especially if you want to be a big team... there’s no friendlies,” he said.
Rodgers: Our Sharpness Is Improving
Manager Brendan Rodgers assesses Leicester City's 1-0 victory at Scunthorpe United on Tuesday evening.
“You fight in every game. We’re obviously fighting for our fitness, but we’re fighting for quality and you see some of the dynamics in the team that are really exciting.
“Especially from seeing Ayoze close-up in pre-season... he’s shown what a clever player he is and what a threat he can be on the goal. We want to score more goals and he's a part of that.
“Youri was obviously a big signing for us. He’s a goal threat, a creative player, a very talented player and it was great business by the Club.
“There was a lot of clubs that wanted him, but he’s very excited by what we’re doing and he wants to help us achieve our ambitions so it’s great to have him back.
“Young JJ has done very, very well at Luton so he’ll only develop with this squad of players and he’s already shown his quality for us so far.”
Discussing City’s ambitions for the new campaign, Rodgers reiterated his intent to compete in every match and to continue the Club’s steady yearly progress in the Premier League.
While the Foxes manager is hesitant to publicly declare specific targets, the 46-year-old is nonetheless determined to improve the squad's potential this season.
“The idea is just to be as competitive as we possibly can and each season, you want to improve,” the Northern Irishman added.
Goal: Scunthorpe United 0 Leicester City 1
New signing Ayoze Pérez nets for Leicester City in a 1-0 pre-season friendly victory over Scunthorpe United on Tuesday.
“Of course, we won the league and we all know the story beyond that, but away from that, the team has progressed each year and the notion this year is to make another step forward.
“It’ll be an exciting challenge and by the time we go into that first game, we’ll hopefully have a squad that will allow us to do that.
“The reason I came here is to be competitive and to challenge. Our target is to make another step forward and we’ve got an exciting group of young players.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do yet and that’s something that really excites us. They’ve worked tirelessly in training, they’ve suffered in training, but that’s what it’s about at this time of year.”