We Had An Edge, Says Rodgers
- Leicester City defeated West Ham United 2-1 at London Stadium on Saturday evening
- The Foxes made nine changes for the clash with the Hammers in the capital
- Kelechi Iheanacho and Demarai Gray scored the goals for City
- Brendan Rodgers highlighted the mentality of his squad at full-time
Following a considerable build-up of fixtures over the festive season, Rodgers elected to make nine changes to his starting line-up for a second clash in less than 48 hours.
Kelechi Iheanacho opened the scoring for the Foxes and, while Pablo Fornals levelled before the break, Demarai Gray recovered from an early penalty miss to win it in the second half.
Speaking to LCFC TV at full-time in the capital, Rodgers, whose side remain second in the Premier League, noted the 'edge' on display in Leicester's 13th top-flight win in 20 outings this season.
"It'’s a really good feeling," the Northern Irishman said. "We’ve been used to winning. The last couple of games have been really tough games for us.
"We were playing against two super teams at the very top of the world game, so that’s not really our measure at this stage.
"I said to the players beforehand that in this sport, football at the top level, you’ve got to be at your maximum. They showed that mentality.
"You’ve got to have that edge and I thought we had that today in terms of our energy and attitude in the game, considering so many of the players that we brought into the squad.
"So, I’m so happy for them. They get a great reward. It’s been hard for them, especially after the last game and then quickly to turnaround, but they came here and played very, very well."
Rodgers was also thrilled by the application of his much-changed line-up in London and reserved praise for the players who may not have experienced too much Premier League football this season.
"They thoroughly deserved the three points," he continued. "Obviously, some of the players have been playing some games.
"Over the course of the last four weeks, we’ve tried to organise some of the players like Papy [Mendy].
"He’s played in the Under-23s games. We’ve played behind-closed-doors games to look to try to prepare the players so they weren’t coming fresh in, but it’s still very difficult for them to do that.
"The likes of Papy, it’s purely because of how we play, he hasn’t been involved hardly at all because of the form of Wilf Ndidi.
"He came in and he was absolutely outstanding. Lots of those players have come in, showed a great mentality, they showed the honesty in the group, and they got the three points."