- Manager Brendan Rodgers reacts to Leicester City's 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Thursday
- James Maddison gave the Foxes the lead in style, before Marcos Alonso's equaliser for the hosts
- Rodgers was pleased with the quality of the goal and the nature of Leicester's defending
- He also provides an update on absentees Youri Tielemans (knee) and James Justin (illness)
In City's final away game of the 2021/22 campaign, James Maddison's powerful strike from range put the visitors ahead, before the Blues hit back through Marcus Alonso. Leicester defended valiantly for large spells in west London and ultimately sealed their 49th point in the Premier League.
"We were playing against a top class team," Rodgers told LCFC TV. "The team they put out was a really strong side. Sometimes you’re wondering, after the FA Cup Final, would they do that? It was a really strong team and we got off to a great start, scored a really good goal. It was a wonderful finish by James.
"You know you’re going to have to defend here and be really concentrated. We’re disappointed with the goal we gave away. We just didn’t slide with the ball quick enough and then they get in behind, but then we managed the pressure really well and, in the second half, we showed a bit more belief.
"With a bit more quality, we could have broken their lines a little bit better. We defended well, defended strong, concentrated, and came away to pick up a point was really good. Fundamentally you have to defend well in order to have a chance to win games and normally our defending starts higher up the field.
"Chelsea are team, if you give them too much space, their quality, their speed, their technique, they can really open you up. For us, it was denying them space a little bit deeper. I think, apart from the one opportunity where [Christian] Pulisic nearly scored across the goal, we managed it really well. We didn’t give so much away.
"We changed the system. We’ve been playing a lot of 4-3-3 but when you play against these with a back four, they really stretch the pitch and they can break your lines. We went with the five, we knew we were going to have to defend and they defended really well."
The Northern Irishman was delighted with the quality of Leicester's goal in the capital, with goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel locating Timothy Castagne on the right flank. The Belgian then fed Maddison, via a deflection, before City's No.10 curled the ball beyond Édouard Mendy.
"It was a wonderful goal, a great ball from Kasper, out over their press onto the side," Rodgers explained. "The ball comes in and he took it really, really well. It’s a wonderful finish and he was outstanding player on the night.
"James is the one player who can go into any stadium and he has this wonderful belief in the quality he has and he was very good for us tonight."
The Foxes manager is hopeful that he will have Youri Tielemans (knee) and James Justin (illness) available for selection against Southampton on Sunday after both missed Thursday's encounter with Thomas Tuchel's Blues.
"Youri had a clash of knee in the Watford game and hasn’t quite recovered so hopefully he should be okay for the weekend," the 49-year-old added. "JJ was sick, he had an illness, so hopefully he’ll recover and be okay for the weekend.
"In saying that, I thought Luke Thomas, who hasn’t played for a little while, he was playing against a really good player in Reece James and I thought he did very, very well."