Rodgers: Maddison & Dewsbury-Hall 'Okay'

First Team
04 May 2022
2 Minutes
James Maddison and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall could feature in Thursday's crunch UEFA Europa Conference League last-four tie at AS Roma, says Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers.

- Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers provides an update on his squad's fitness
- The Foxes face Roma in the second leg of the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and James Maddison are looking 'okay' in training ahead of that tie
- City are bidding to reach the final of a European final for the first time in the 8pm kick-off on Thursday

Dewsbury-Hall (calf) and Maddison (hip) were absent for the Foxes at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday, as Rodgers made eight changes to the XI which drew 1-1 with Roma in the first leg last week. Ahead of what the manager calls 'our biggest game of the season', they're both improving. 

"They’re okay," the Northern Irishman told the media at LCFC Training Ground on Wednesday. "They trained yesterday and came through well."

On Jamie Vardy's condition, meanwhile, Rodgers confirmed: "He's coming through well, so he's okay for the game."

Over previous seasons, Leicester have lost key players to injury at crucial moments at the end of campaigns. This year, however, players are returning to fitness as the Club approaches the second leg of its first-ever European semi-final. 

Ensuring as many players as possible remain fit and well has involved careful rotation over previous weeks, but Leicester now travel to Rome with only Wilfred Ndidi and Ryan Bertrand absent, both with knee conditions. The clash at Stadio Olimpico kicks off at 8pm on Thursday.

"Everyone [else] is available and ready," the 49-year-old continued. "These last weeks, we’ve been getting players back. But I still had to manage the group in order to get to this point. With all the games, we had the risk of getting to a semi-final with some of our best payers unavailable.

"That was a risk that, for me, would be too much really. That was the idea of making the changes. Ideally, we wouldn’t be making so many, but we’re having to nurse the players through to the big games and this is our biggest game of the season. We arrive into it with players fit, ready and fully focused.

"We're ready to take on the challenge. It’s a much healthier position than what we’ve been in for most of the season."

All times BST.