Rodgers: That Was The Objective
- Brendan Rodgers assesses Leicester City's 1-0 win at Brentford in the Emirates FA Cup
- Kelechi Iheanacho's early goal at Griffin Park secured a place in the fifth round
- Rodgers was pleased with City's early play, but called for more precision in attacking areas
- The Foxes manager also spoke glowing about debutant Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Kelechi Iheanacho's fourth-minute strike, following excellent play from Dennis Praet and James Justin, secured City's place in the fifth round of the competition at Griffin Park.
Assessing the encounter at full-time, Rodgers emphasised the importance of showing more precision in the final third, but nonetheless commended the efforts of his defensive players in particular.
"That was the objective of today," he told LCFC TV. "It was always going to be a difficult game, coming to a club with really good confidence. You could see that they’re an excellent side.
"In the first 25 minutes, we were very good, we pressed the game, had good control, switched the game well, got into some good areas and then we scored a very, very good goal.
"I thought, in the final third of the pitch, we were too loose. We lacked a little bit of precision in the game, or else we could have had more clear chances.
"That final pass didn’t quite get there and the touch wasn’t quite good enough, but then, like you do away from home, you’ve got to defend, and I thought we defended very, very well."
With over 20 minutes to play, and with the match still in the balance, Rodgers handed a debut to young midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, the Club's 2018/19 Development Squad Player of the Year.
Rodgers was pleased with how Dewsbury-Hall - who's been with the Club since he was eight - settled into the game and has challenged the Leicester-born midfielder to continue progressing.
"He’s done very, very well in the Academy," the Northern Irishman added. "It’s always great for a young player who’s been here since he was seven years of age to work his way through.
"The whole goal is to play for the first team. Now he’s played for the first team and it’s really about concentrating on making sure there’s many more appearances.
"It’s been a long journey for him. He’s made the first team, but now he’s got to go on and work even harder to stay there."