We Created Lots Of Opportunities, Says Rodgers
- Leicester City secured a 4-1 win over Randers FC in the UEFA Europa Conference League
- Wilfred Ndidi, Harvey Barnes, Patson Daka and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall got the goals
- Manager Brendan Rodgers was pleased with the attacking quality on show
- He also provided an update on James Maddison and Çağlar Söyüncü
Wilfred Ndidi, Harvey Barnes, Patson Daka and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall found the net for the Foxes in the first leg of their knockout round play-off tie with their Danish opponents. Vito Hammershøy-Mistrati had equalised for the visiting side, but Leicester quickly reestablished their control over the tie.
Coming on the back of an attacking second-half performance in Sunday's 2-2 draw with West Ham United in the Premier League, Rodgers was enthused by how Leicester picked up where they left off. The Foxes head to Denmark for the second leg next Thursday (5:45pm GMT kick-off).
"I think we continued on from the weekend," Rodgers told LCFC TV. "We started the first half really well. We created lots of opportunities, scored a good goal, and then we obviously conceded just before half-time. The key message was just to stay calm, keep playing our football, and the opportunities will come.
"It was just reinforcing how well they’d played in the first half, but also reminding them that, when you’re playing European football, if you make mistakes, you can get punished no matter how dominant you are. The players responded very well.
"In the second half, we were really dominant, we scored good goals and I thought their ‘keeper made some outstanding saves to keep the scoreline down. Overall it was a really good professional performance."
City delivered a ruthless display in the second period on Thursday evening, using their high fitness levels to their advantage against a team who have not played a competitive fixture since December. Randers have been on a winter break from action in the Danish Superliga.
"That’s the plan, to score as many as you can," the manager added. "Our idea was to keep attacking, keep the tempo of the game, keep the pace of the game, and the players did that. [Randers] are in the middle of their season and they’ve come back and got working again.
"I’ve been involved in games like this tonight where it was the other way round, with the opponent being 20-odd games into the season and we’d be playing qualification games. It does make a bit of a difference, but we kept the tempo up, which was important.
"They changed their system in the second half so we played that well. They went to a back five, so we had to really stretch their line and the players, positionally, were very good.
"The next game is the boring mantra of a coach or manager. The focus now turns to Wolves (away on Sunday). It’ll be a quick recovery and a tough game away from home, but I’m really pleased with tonight."
James Maddison and Çağlar Söyüncü, however, were withdrawn late on at Leicester City Stadium and Rodgers provided an update on each at full-time.
"He just didn’t feel well, James, so he was with the medics and I was speaking to him before I came out and he seems fine," the 49-year-old said. "They’re just keeping an eye on him. Çağs looks like he’s hurt his knee so we’ll assess that and see how it is tomorrow."