Saturday’s 12:30pm GMT kick-off presents the Foxes with an opportunity to reach the fifth round of a competition they claimed for the first time in 2021.
Standing in their way are a Walsall side currently in the fourth tier, but with ambitions of moving back up the English Football League pyramid.
Ahead of visiting Bescot Stadium, City’s manager addressed the media in his pre-match press conference from inside the King Power Centre at LCFC Training Ground…
Show the required attitude
The Northern Irishman is aware of the need to arrive in Walsall with the right mindset in order to claim another cup victory, having defeated lower league opposition in the previous round. Gillingham were overcome, 1-0, courtesy of Kelechi Iheanacho’s goal, earlier this month.
“Of course, you want to go and play your football and hopefully that quality and talent can show up in the game,” the 50-year-old explained. “But first and foremost when you go into games like at the weekend, and like we had at Gillingham, you have to do all the dirty stuff well in the game.
“You can’t just turn up because you’re a Premier League player and another team will roll over. Like it was at Gillingham, and in a lot of the cup competitions for us, it’s about that mentality.
“You’ve got to run, you’ve got to fight, you’ve got to work, you’ve got to win your your first balls, second balls, third balls and then play your football. We’re going with the right attitude and mentality, which in fairness to the boys in my time here, that’s been the case. We’ll take that approach going into this game also.
“I think you saw that when we played Gillingham, we were going to a difficult ground and pitch and the atmosphere was really good for the home team. But we were able to cope with that and come through. Winning there felt good because of everything, the conditions, and because clearly the cup competitions can bring upsets, which we saw in the last round.
“Every game is different, of course, but these will play a different system we think to what Gillingham will have played, or MK Dons in the other competition. We have to deal with that, deal with the structural change.
“Normally you find down the pyramid a little bit that teams are very good on set pieces, so we have to make sure we’re ready for that as well, but it’s something that we’ve fully prepared for.”
Preparations remain the same
The Saddlers come into the game sitting 11th in Sky Bet League 2, having lost just one of their last 13 games across all competitions. In the FA Cup, meanwhile, Michael Flynn’s side saw off Wycombe Wanderers, Carlisle United and Stockport County to reach this round.
On the opposition, Rodgers commented: “His team will be very competitive and like all teams playing against a Premier League team, they want to create a shock. For Michael [Flynn] and his players, it’s a home game, they’ll look for that opportunity to get through and cause a shock.
“Walsall are at home; it’s a tight little stadium and they’ll want to be a team that can maybe create a scalp in the competition. Any player, team or club that is up against a so-called team from a higher division, then of course that always creates that anticipation and bit of excitement. I understand that.
“We prepare like it’s a Premier League game. We know we have to play well and we have to work hard to get through and if we can do that, it gives us a great chance of winning. It’s the same in any competition, but in particular in the FA Cup, with a team that is further down the pyramid, it’s a chance to upset the bigger team.
“But that’s something we’ll be aware of. Where we sit in the Premier League, and where other teams are, guys are always giving that extra percentage in these games. We have to guard against that and the players, in the main, have been very good at that.
“For us it’s have that focus, that concentration. We’ve got to get ready to run and roll our sleeves up and then hopefully our talent comes through. It’s just about getting to the next round and that’s the aim.”
Rich history in the competition
Rodgers became the first ever Leicester City manager to lift the FA Cup trophy two seasons ago, and there is a burning ambition to go far in the tournament once more in 2022/23. Full focus, though, is very much on Saturday’s game.
The former Celtic manager explained: “Every year when we’ve entered any of the cup competitions, we’ve looked to be serious about it. The objective when you start out is to get to a final, this is no different, irrespective of where you are. It’s an amazing competition.
“We had the feeling of winning it for the first time, which was incredible and now we have history in the competition, so we want to go as far as we possibly can again.
“I came from winning trophies, and I wanted to come in here and at least be competitive and challenge for them and thankfully we’ve been able to do that. And winning the FA Cup for the first time was such an iconic day and the whole competition was amazing for us.
“I’ve spoken to many supporters since then and the feeling and what it gave them, especially for the older generation of supporters, it meant so much. This season, it has have been tough for them, so of course we would love to do that.
“It’s the next game and the next game you want to win. We go into such an exciting competition and if you look back at when we won the competition, the series of games we had to win to get there, it always starts with difficult ties.
“Those difficult ties continue right the way through. This is the next challenge for us. It’s a game that we want to win and we want to get through to the next round. There’s no negative coming away from the league, because obviously we want to climb the league too. That’s the challenge.”