Rodgers: A Wonderful Opportunity
- Leicester City face Aston Villa in a Carabao Cup Semi-Final second leg tie at Villa Park on Tuesday evening (7:45pm kick-off)
- The Foxes are currently drawing 1-1 with the Birmingham outfit on aggregate
- Brendan Rodgers has challenged his side to seize the 'wonderful opportunity' to reach the final
- Supporters can tune into live and free coverage from 4:45pm on LCFC Radio
Rodgers takes his talented City side to Villa Park on Tuesday evening with a place in the final awaiting the victors of a 7:45pm kick-off in Birmingham.
With the aggregate score currently at 1-1 and in the absence of away goals in the competition, the Northern Irishman says his side can approach the fixture with confidence.
That belief is only enforced further by the fact that Leicester sealed a 4-1 success at Villa in the Premier League last month, but Rodgers knows their hosts have enjoyed an upturn in form.
"It’s a wonderful opportunity for us," the Northern Irishman said. "We played well here in the first game, didn’t quite get the result that we wanted, but we’re looking forward to it.
"We obviously have been there earlier on in the season and played very, very well, so we have that confidence, but we know it’s going to be tight.
"We know that both teams will be all out to get to the final. Aston Villa have had a couple of good results of late, so that will give them confidence.
"Our focus is very much on our own game and looking to bring that quality that we’ve had and just aim to get to that first final.
"You’ve just got to stay calm, I think there’s a lot of emotion around these games.
"You have to play with emotion, of course, but then you have to play with that calmness and not overthink it as well.
"It’ll be a great occasion and we aim to perform well and hopefully get the result we want. I think that it’s very, very well balanced.
"It’s 1-1, there’s no away goals, so it’s very much in the balance. For us, we’re happy with where it’s at.
"We knew, even if we took a lead in, it was always going to be a difficult game, so for us, we’re very focused and ready and prepared.
"We’re just now relaxing and getting concentrated on the game and we’ll be ready for kick-off."
City approach the fixture on the back of successive victories, over West Ham United in the Premier League, and Brentford in the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round.
Villa, meanwhile, have also secured four points from their last two top-flight outings, drawing at Brighton & Hove Albion before overcoming Watford.
In comparison to City's lead-in to the first leg, Rodgers believes the Foxes approach the second leg tie in good health: "Certainly for us, we arrive in a better moment
"We’ve also got players that hadn’t played so much as well that played last Wednesday and we were able to recover a lot of those players for the game tomorrow.
"Listen, no matter what the form is going into it, it’s a semi-final of a major cup competition.
"No matter how good or bad you’ve been playing, every player will be up for an occasion like this. We can only worry about ourselves.
"We know the threat that Aston Villa have. We also respect our own qualities and if we can bring them, we believe we’ve got a really good chance of winning."
All times GMT.