After exiting the UEFA Europa League in December, City's European journey continues in this new competition, pitting them against Danish Cup winners Randers over two legs. The first leg tie takes place at Leicester City Stadium on Thursday evening (8pm GMT kick-off).
Rodgers admits the Foxes were bitterly disappointed not to prolong their campaign in the Europa League, but new opportunities now present his side with the chance to earn fresh experiences – and to go deep into a European competition for the first time since 2016/17.
As well as European silverware, winning the Europa Conference League offers a route back into the Europa League for 2022/23. The Leicester manager, though, is hoping the Club can achieve that goal as a result of their final Premier League standing in May.
"I grew up being aware of three European cup competitions – the European Cup, the UEFA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup," the Northern Irishman said. "They're the competitions I grew up with and, now we're in this competition, of course we'll look to win it. We'll give everything we can to do that.
"We're looking forward to the challenge of it now and we'll look to embrace it. We have an opportunity to still finish in the top seven [in the Premier League]. We want to finish in the league as high as we possibly can. If we show the levels of the second half and the latter part of the first half (vs. West Ham) at the weekend, with returning players, I believe we can have a really positive end to the season in terms of the league.
"In this competition, you're in it to try and win it, that's the idea. Whichever one of those two brings European football, that was always our aim at the beginning of the season, to be in Europe. Every competition is important, whether it's the league or the cups.
"This is a real positive challenge for us and we take that challenge on. It's no more or less important for us. It's an important competition for us. It's a great opportunity to go deep into European competition and extend the experience of our players, especially a lot of the young players.
"I'm looking forward to seeing that development over these next coming months."
Rodgers is expecting a tough test from Randers, who finished second in their Europa Conference League pool before Christmas. The Horses have not played a competitive fixture since December, due to Denmark's winter break, but the manager doesn't feel that's a hinderance.
"They're a team that did extremely well to get into the competition," he explained. "In their history, they've won the domestic cup twice and back in 2021, which has enabled them to be in the European competition. They play 4-4-2, they're a very honest team, they've got quality at the front end of the field.
"The wingers come inside and try to bring the overloads on the inside, so it's a game that you have to be at your best in to go through. It's the first leg at home, so we want to continue with the really positive elements of our game and see if we can take a lead to Denmark next week.
"When I was at Celtic, we were playing teams who were midway through their season and then sometimes teams that are on a break, like tomorrow. You can only really concentrate on your own self. They've had the break but they've still been playing games in their off-season.
"I don't think it'll impact it too much. It's sometimes more the case at the beginning of the season, when you play teams in qualification games. You might be in your pre-season, but if you're playing a team that is 20-odd games into their season, you can really see the difference from a physical perspective."
Leicester delivered a display which, for Rodgers, warranted three points against West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday. Youri Tielemans and Ricardo Pereira were on the scoresheet to overturn Jarrod Bowen's opener, before Craig Dawson struck from a corner in added time.
The former Liverpool and Celtic manager says work continues at LCFC Training Ground to improve their defensive set-piece record.
"For me, defending set pieces is straight forward," the 49-year-old continued. "It's about organisation and desire and will to head the ball. It's as simple as that. You go through cycles of defending really well and then something happens and it doesn't quite work and then you change it.
"There is probably a little bit of anxiety around it, but on Sunday, we were playing against West Ham, who I think have scored the most set-pieces in the league. We defended them really well and then, right at the very end, we got undone with arguably a goal which shouldn't have counted.
"But it did count. Of course, it then puts a negative feel on what was a really good performance. We deserved to win the game. It's about that real ruthlessness to get the first contact and that will to defend it. That's something which, for my first 18 months here, wasn't a problem.
"It now is a problem for us, but there's lots of work going on, in terms of organisation and in terms of going zonal and then going man-to-man. Really, you've got to stay concentrated right to the very end and hopefully that ruthlessness will return to our game."
Tickets remain available for Thursday's European tie and can be purchased HERE.