- Leicester City drew 3-3 away at OH Leuven on Saturday afternoon
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Patson Daka and Jamie Vardy found the net for the Foxes
- Manager Brendan Rodgers was pleased with the work of his players against Marc Brys' men
- The 49-year-old also provides an insight into the coming days as City's pre-season steps up
Following a training camp in Évian-les-Bains, France, the Foxes took a short flight to Leuven on Friday evening. A range of activities were planned to mark the occasion, City's first-ever trip to OHL, as the Belgian First Division club toasted the five-year anniversary of King Power International's takeover.
Mousa Al-Tamari and Nachon Nsingi struck early on for the Whites at King Power At Den Dreef Stadion on Saturday, before second-half strikes from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Patson Daka. City had to come behind again, however, as Jamie Vardy equalised Mykola Kukharevych's earlier effort.
The match was contested over 120 minutes, to aid fitness gain, as Rodgers fielded 26 players, of which 22 played an hour. Speaking to LCFC TV at full-time, the Northern Irishman – a winner of the FA Cup and Community Shield at the Club – outlined his verdict on the friendly clash.
"It was a really good exercise," the former Liverpool and Celtic manager said. "Obviously, Leuven, it was their last game before their season starts next week. I think you saw two different speeds, especially early on in the game, where they were a little bit sharper at times. I’m really pleased.
"It’s been a long, hard week for the players, so to come here on a really hot day, it’ll be valuable minutes for us. We had a number of the guys come back. Some had 30 minutes, Youri [Tielemans], Dennis [Praet], Daniel [Amartey] and Yannik [Vestergaard]… so the group’s at different speeds.
"We’re having to work hard to make sure we’re getting the right minutes. Obviously, then, of course the team gets a little bit broken at times, but the players have been great. Évian was a fantastic base and they’ve worked really, really hard.
"Their legs will be tired now but they’ll have a day’s rest and then we’re back in on Monday."
Rodgers was impressed by Marc Brys' team, who are heading into their third successive top-flight season in Belgium. City's quality ultimately enabled them to seal a draw on the day, but OH Leuven raced into a two-goal lead and showcased their own talents in front of a large home crowd.
"I thought the speed and physicality of them was excellent early on," the 49-year-old continued. "We obviously got caught out straight from the kick-off, which was disappointing. We made some mistakes in our pressing, but these are all things we’ll put right over the next three to four weeks.
"I thought they were sharp, they had good bodies inside, and they played well also. Kiernan’s was a great goal. He suffered a little bit this week, so I thought at times he looked a little bit tired, but he’s a very honest boy and he kept going.
"He kept pushing and he ended up scoring a very good goal, which was similar to the one he scored against Crystal Palace.
"James Maddison… this is the best I’ve seen him. During the three and a half years I’ve been at Leicester, he now looks really physically strong, technically confident and tactically, his view of the game is outstanding. It was his quick thinking for the free-kick and then a really good finish by Patson."
The Foxes flew back to the United Kingdom on Saturday night. Following a rest on Sunday, they'll be back to work on Monday at LCFC Training Ground, putting plans in place for Wednesday's friendly at Sky Bet Championship outfit Hull City (7:45pm BST kick-off).
"They’ll need a day to recover," the manager explained. "It’s been long days and long nights because we’ve been doing a lot of work in the evenings as well with the players. They’ll get back, recover, and then we’ve got to keep pushing.
"It’s just week by week, building up the fitness and then, technically, the players will improve even more as they get fitter. When you’re not quite at your fitness level, technically you see misplaced passes sometimes. We’ll keep building our fitness and there’s lots to work on tactically."