- Four key figures speak ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Europa League Round of 32 encounter
- Leicester City head to Sinobo Stadium to take on Slavia Prague in the first leg
- Jindřich Trpišovský, Brendan Rodgers, Nicolae Stanciu and Harvey Barnes were all on press duties
The Foxes have played 16 games across all competitions since their final UEFA Europa League Group G fixture, which resulted in a 2-0 win over AEK Athens at Leicester City Stadium in December.
That success secured top spot in their pool, setting up a Round of 32 showdown with a Slavia Prague side that is yet to taste defeat in their domestic campaign in 2020/21, and haven’t lost in nine outings in all competitions.
The Czech side’s manager, Jindřich Trpišovský, was followed by midfielder Nicolae Stanciu in a press conference at Sinobo Stadium on Wednesday night, while Leicester’s media duties were hosted at LCFC Training Ground’s King Power Centre before their flight to the historic city of Prague.
Jindřich Trpišovský commented on the eve of the game: "Of course, we are excited to play. It is one of the best teams in the Premier League. We are prepared and excited to play. It’s an important match for all of us, we’ve been waiting for it for quite some time. All of the boys are focused, they know that our adversary is very strong. We are aware of the recent changes there have been in the squad, and the composition of the team. I really enjoy watching Leicester every time they play, they have great players especially [Harvey] Barnes – he is one of the most dangerous players."
Nicolae Stanciu said of meeting a former Anderlecht team-mate: “We are ready. We’ve prepared very well this week. We are looking forward to this game. It’s a big game for all of us – for the club, for everybody. We are ready for tomorrow and we know what we have to do. Leicester have a lot of good players, they won the league four or five years ago in England, but I’m more excited for the game, and to meet Youri Tielemans again, because we played together in Anderlecht some years ago."
Brendan Rodgers on his previous experiences in the Europa League: “It’s an experience, it’s in the past so I never worry so much, it won’t benefit us now. It’s one where we want to do well in this competition. We came into the group and we won the group and now we’ve a tough game against Prague. We’re all very excited about the European challenge and we want to qualify for the last-16.”
Harvey Barnes spoke of his development before heading to Prague: “As I’ve got older, my game’s changed a bit. When I was younger, I probably had a bit of a temper and it used to spur me on a bit! I’ve probably still got a bit of that in me. Over the last 18 months or so, my tactical game has come on a lot, and that’s helped me. Everyone has that little trigger in them, which sometimes helps them get an extra few per cent in the game. It’s not something that I think I rely on, week in, week out in football. As it has been mentioned in the past, in the cases that it has happened, my performances have gone up, maybe. I don’t think there’s a certain thing that triggers it, but most weeks, I’m doing alright at the minute."