Rodgers: We Didn't Do Enough
- Brendan Rodgers provides reaction to Leicester City’s 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest
- Brennan Johnson scored both goals for Forest at the City Ground
- City’s manager believes his side needed to do more in the second half
- Saturday’s defeat was a fourth-straight Premier League reverse for the Foxes
A Brennan Johnson brace after the interval handed all three points to the home side at the City Ground, leaving Leicester empty handed for the fourth successive Premier League game.
Summarising his side’s display during Saturday’s 2-0 reverse, Rodgers felt the Foxes were on top in the opening 45 minutes, but after being guilty of not taking the half's major chance, were punished after the break.
“I’m disappointed with the second half,” he told LCFC TV. “I thought we looked the better team in the first half. We had the big opportunity in the game and didn’t quite take it. We started the game slowly, our passing and the speed of our game.
“We just gave the ball away too cheaply. In saying that, we still had that great chance to go in front. But then our positioning for their first goal was really poor. Tactically, we have to be much better than that.
“It just opened up the middle of the pitch. It was something we spoke about before the game and at half-time - making sure that they were close together in midfield.
“And then the second goal, we weren’t going anywhere with our passes and then we lost it and weren’t aggressive enough in getting it back. They broke away and got the goal.”
Some 2,953 Foxes fans made the short trip across the East Midlands, contributing to a raucous atmosphere inside the City Ground. Leicester were unable to make it count on the pitch, however.
“It was a great atmosphere, we had great support,” the 49-year-old continued. “Our supporters were brilliant, helping us trying to push the team on. I feel for them. This was a great opportunity for us to come away here and get the result, but we just didn’t do enough in the second half.
“They had two chances and scored two. We didn’t and, on top of that, we maybe didn’t pass the ball as well as we could have done and should have done. We lost a couple of challenges.”
Brighton & Hove Albion provide the next test in the Premier League in seven days’ time, as the Seagulls arrive at King Power Stadium for a 3pm GMT kick-off. The importance of that game has only heightened in the wake of Saturday’s result, Rodgers believes.
The Northern Irishman added: “Clearly, we’re playing against a very good side next week and it’s something that we’ve done earlier on in the season. In the first seven games, we had disappointing results.
“Now we’ve got to pick ourselves up. You’ll be disappointed for 24 hours but then you’ve got to go again. It’s a huge game for us now next weekend. We speak about this afterwards, but the reflection comes in the next 24 hours and then we get back on it next week. We need a lot of hard work to turn it around.”