Steven Gerrard says Leicester City decision 'showed respect' to Aston Villa

Steven Gerrard felt Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City team selection “showed respect” to Aston Villa.

City made just four changes for the goalless draw at the King Power Stadium, a few less than has been usual, with Rodgers rotating heavily for each match over the past few weeks. Since returning from the international break, City have been playing twice a week, every week.

Gerrard, who was Rodgers’ captain at Liverpool, felt City’s line-up was an indication of the threat his Villa side posed even though they were arriving at the King Power Stadium on the back of a four-game losing run. They halted that thanks to a drab stalemate.

Gerrard said: “Brendan’s got this team well-coached, they’re all near enough back to full fitness. On the back of four defeats before a ball is kicked, this is a real tough game for us.

“He didn’t make as many changes as he has been doing. I think he showed us respect by doing that. You’re not given anything here. You’ve got to earn it. We’ve earned a right positive point.

“The plan was to win the game. I thought we had some decent chances to score goals today. I see this as a positive point.

“We were compact. We looked very organised. We changed something tactically. That’s the big positive, the clean sheet. We haven’t had enough of them on the road. We deserved a clean sheet.

“It’s important if you can’t win at places like this that you take something away from the game. I’m satisfied with our defensive performance, and across the 90 minutes, we probably just edged the chances as well, as far as I’m concerned. We came here to win. We couldn’t do that, but it’s important we stopped the losing run.”

Both sides had periods where they were in the ascendancy, and City may have thought they were