Rodgers: We’ll Give Absolutely Everything
- Leicester City face Manchester United at King Power Stadium on Sunday (4pm kick-off)
- The Foxes could finish in the top four of the Premier League with victory over the Red Devils
- Brendan Rodgers says there are positives to take from Sunday's defeat against Tottenham Hotspur
- The players still have an opportunity to achieve their objective, Rodgers believes
The Foxes host Manchester United on Sunday afternoon with a place in the top four of the Premier League up for grabs (4pm kick-off).
Both sides are locked on 62 points and a +28 goal difference, with City leading on goals scored, while United have a game in hand to play ahead of the weekend’s encounter at King Power Stadium.
Reflecting on Sunday’s game in his post-match press conference, Rodgers said he is looking to take the positives from the performance against Tottenham Hotspur, despite a 3-0 defeat.
“I’m an attacking coach and obviously to attack well you need to defend well so that was the disappointment for us in the first-half," he told the national and international media after the game.
“Our idea was to go and play, I’m very much performance [based], I’m disappointed with the result, of course, but performance-wise we had enough confidence and enough quality.
“There was a lot of the performance that pleased me. The frustrating thing is we know what their strengths were and we didn’t nullify it.
“But there were a lot of positives in the game, so we’ll take that into our final game. Attitude-wise, the players gave everything.
“We’re missing a lot of players but those that have come in have been outstanding. Wes Morgan has come in over the two games and is giving everything; Luke Thomas, with that quality at that level, was superb; young George Hirst came into the game and played with confidence, getting a shot away too.”
The City manager was keen to praise the players for their efforts over the course of the season, but admitted consistency has been a problem for the Foxes since the Premier League restarted in June.
Rodgers continued: “I thought today at times we looked a little bit leggy in the first-half and, of course, we’ve had disruptions with injuries, but that aside, we’ve probably not been as consistent as what we want.
“I don’t want to be too negative with the players because we’ve got obvious disappointment from today, but we’ve got a game next week where we’ve got a shot at being in the Champions League. Our target was the arrive in the top six, which at the beginning of the season, would have been a great achievement for us.
“However, it’s a 38-game season and we have an opportunity to still be in there. If we don’t do it, of course there will be a bit of disappointment, but there will also be gratification in terms of what the players have done and what they’ve given.”
The Northern Irishman also looked towards to the post-season and the planning that will take place ahead of the new season, but says a reflection on the 2019/20 campaign will come after Sunday's clash, which is his sole focus.
Tottenham Hotspur 3 Leicester City 0
All the action as the Foxes suffered a defeat in their penultimate Premier League fixture of the season in north London.
“Everything we’ll take from the season, we’ll go away in the summer and look to be better next year,” he added.
“But we’ll recover now and rest and have a really good weeks’ training and, come next Sunday, we’ll be giving absolutely everything to win the game.
“We need to draw on everything, we’ll be ready for it come next Sunday. We’ve had two tough games in a four-day period, so we’ll need to get away and have a bit of recovery.
“The players have been absolutely fantastic until now and we’ll get them physically and mentally right and it’s one last opportunity to arrive in that top four. We’ll come off the pitch having given everything to do that.
“Whatever the result was going to be today, we had to get a result next week and to go to win the game is exactly what we’ll try to do."
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