Unfortunate For The Players, Says Rodgers
- Brendan Rodgers reflects on Leicester City's 1-0 loss to Zorya Luhansk at Slavutych Arena
- The Foxes fell to their maiden European defeat to a late effort from Allahyar Sayyadmanesh
- Rodgers says his players were unfortunate to concede so late given the nature of their performance
- The Northern Irishman also highlights City's positive position as Group G leaders
Allahyar Sayyadmanesh's 84th-minute strike ultimately sealed the points for the Ukrainian hosts at Slavutych Arena against already-qualified Leicester.
Reflecting on the action at full-time, City manager Rodgers explained that his side were the victims of misfortune in Zaporizhzhia and pointed to the bigger picture.
"I thought the players were really unfortunate," he told LCFC TV. "I thought we put so much into the game. We showed a lot of moments of quality and we had good chances in the game.
"Their ‘keeper made a few good saves and then we, obviously, missed one or two opportunities and, especially as the game went on, we looked like the team who could really go on and score.
"It was just unfortunate, I feel, for the players because they put so much into the game. They showed a great desire to want to win the game, even though we had a couple of injuries to deal with."
The Foxes remain top of Group G and know matching SC Braga's result next week will be enough to confirm top spot - when the Portuguese side host Zorya at the same time as Leicester entertain AEK Athens.
Between now and that visit of AEK to Filbert Way, City head to Bramall Lane to tackle Sheffield United in the Premier League on Sunday (2:15pm GMT kick-off) and Rodgers says all focus is on that outing.
"I can’t fault the players," the 47-year-old added. "Listen, we’re five games in, three wins, one draw, and we’re disappointed to lose this evening, but there were mitigating circumstances.
"We were playing players and getting some game time into players, so there’s always going to be that possibility.
"There were lots of disruptions in the game for us, but overall, the players deserved more than that. We go into the last game to win the group.
"At the beginning, I would have taken that, so we’ve got an important game at the weekend to get ready for and then we’ll look to finish the job off next week."