Rodgers: Really Tough On The Players

- Brendan Rodgers reacts to Leicester City’s 5-4 penalty shootout loss to Liverpool at Anfield
- The Foxes drew 3-3 in normal time during the Carabao Cup Quarter-Final tie
- Jamie Vardy scored twice and James Maddison was also on target
- Rodgers says Leicester will assess the fitness of a number of players over the coming days

The Foxes were emphatic in the first half, scoring three times to carry a 3-1 advantage into the break thanks to Jamie Vardy’s double and a stunner from James Maddison.

However, Liverpool hit back in the second half, with Diogo Jota making it 3-2 before Takumi Minamino levelled matters in the fifth minute of injury time.

That sent the tie to penalties on Merseyside, but it was Jürgen Klopp’s Reds who prevailed 5-4, with Luke Thomas and Ryan Betrand seeing their spot-kicks saved.

“We’re bitterly disappointed with the result, of course,” Rodgers said. “I thought we played some great stuff and scored three outstanding goals. We could have had a few more.

“We were really competitive right the way through the evening, so it’s just a real, real shame with all the changes and everything we had to contend with in the second half, to concede a [95th-minute] equaliser was really tough on the players.”

Rodgers made three changes to the side that beat Newcastle United last time out, deploying a diamond stratagem that included an attack of Maddison, Vardy and Patson Daka.

“We had no wingers in the squad,” he continued. “Ayo [Pérez] and Ademola [Lookman] were just literally back a day or so, so they weren’t ready to play, and we had two fit strikers.

“But we felt is was also a shape that could work well for us and give them a problem. It worked really well for us, and in the second half, we picked up a few injuries and then we’ve got to then change it.

“Then, we had to make the two changes because that was our last moment to make the changes when we put Ryan [Bertrand] and Jannik [Vestergaard] on. That gives them a little bit of impetus in the game because we had to go to a back five.

“We’ve got a winger (Marc Albrighton) playing at right-back, a midfield player. The boys dug in and showed incredible courage and spirit in that second half, and that’s why I’m so disappointed for them, to concede a late equaliser.”

Both Ricardo Pereira and Çağlar Söyüncü were forced off during the match, further adding to Leicester’s injury problems.

When asked of their fitness, Rodgers said: “We’ll have to wait and see. We had a few guys come off this evening, Vards (Jamie Vardy) wasn’t great (fitness-wise) in the game either.

“In the last half-hour, his hamstring was tight. Çağs (Çağlar Söyüncü), a tight hamstring again, so we’re going to have to just see how we are over the next few days.”