Internationals will not break Leicester stride, insists Rodgers

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers does not think the international break will affect his side’s momentum.

The Foxes headed into the break on the crest of a wave after a 2-0 home victory against Arsenal left them second in the Premier League.

Leicester resume their league campaign away at Brighton on Saturday looking to extend their run to six successive wins in all competitions.

Since the last break in October, Rodgers’ team have won every game they have played. Asked if he felt the break had come at the wrong time, he said: “Not really, we know it’s there.

“We lost against Liverpool before the last international break and then refocused and have played very well in the games in between up until now.

“I think it is important that when players come back from international duty to press the reset button again, because lots are coming back from playing different styles and different ways.

“So when they come back it is important they come back into the Leicester way and how we work, and the players have been excellent in training since they came back and we will be ready for the game on Saturday.”

Leicester currently have one more point than the Premier League-winning side of 2016 did at this stage of the season.

While many observers are looking at the next handful of matches and expecting Rodgers’ team to keep themselves in contention for another possible tilt at the title, the Foxes boss insists he and his players will not get caught up in the hysteria.

“This league is very tough and you have to earn every point that you make,” he said. “I think what is important for us is that we resist this feeling over the next couple of months now of people trying to say what we can do and what we can’t do.

“Football is difficult to forecast. I can only prepare our team, I can only focus on the next game. I learned when I was younger when I tried to think about how many points we will get over the next five games, it’s better to just focus on the next game.

“You’ve just got to stay focused and calm. There’s a tough schedule of fixtures ahead of us over the next couple of months that we will need the whole squad in, and then it is just about that persistence and being focused on the next game and keeping our processes in place and keep performing.

“We will focus on ourselves and respect the opponent and see where it takes us.”

詹姆斯麦迪森将适合Brighto之行n. The midfielder has recovered from a minor calf injury which ruled him out of England’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Kosovo last weekend.