Rodgers: Areas Where We Can Improve
- Leicester City drew 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion at King Power Stadium on Sunday
- Patson Daka's opener was cut out by Danny Welbeck in the Premier League clash
- Manager Brendan Rodgers says the Foxes must be better in possession
- He also discusses the performances of Daka and James Justin
The Foxes led in the Premier League encounter through Patson Daka's 46th-minute strike from close range, but a Danny Welbeck header secured a point for the visiting Seagulls. Both sides had opportunities, although it was Brighton who went closest in the latter moments on Filbert Way.
"It was a fair result," Rodgers said. "I thought we had good chances. Their 'keeper made some good saves. We had opportunities to score more than one goal and then, for the last half an hour, they were on top of us. We had to defend.
"We couldn't quite manage to keep hold of the ball, the possession. Of course, when you can't do that, then it brings on more pressure onto you. That's something we need to develop and be better in."
The Northern Irishman was after a reaction following the 3-2 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur and, on the whole, he believes he got that on Sunday.
He explained: "I said to the players leading into the game that the Tottenham game won't define us, but it was a failure from our perspective because we should have won that game. Lessons are there to be learned and there was a great lesson in that.
"We conceded late on today and it would have been very easy to just give up and concede again, but we didn't. We hung in there and the players gave everything. I still think there's areas that we can improve on. We don't keep the ball for long-enough periods.
"That's been something from my first week in here. Sometimes the players are in too big a rush to finish the attack when you have to work teams and find the space. When we do that, we look a good team, but today, too many times, we got rid of the ball instead of passing it. That leads to pressure."
Rodgers was also pleased by Daka's performance for the Foxes, with the Zambia striker taking his all-competitions tally up to nine for the Club. The former RB Salzburg forward also netted for Leicester against Spurs in midweek after a spell on the sidelines through injury.
"It was a good finish," the 48-year-old added. "He was in there, he was sharp, he was bright, and he did very well."
James Justin, on the other hand, was making his first senior start for the Club since February 2021, when he suffered an ACL injury against the Seagulls in the Emirates FA Cup. Rodgers is thrilled to have City's No.2 back in contention and was pleased with his performance on Sunday.
"We're so glad to have him back, he was great," he said. "You can see in the first half, when he was playing as that right-sided full-back, getting forward, his running was incredible. Then, he played as a third centre-half in the second half and was fantastic. He did great to get through the game."