What Leicester City owe supporters after entering rare territory under Brendan Rodgers
Leicester City “owe their supporters” to push up the Premier League table as they enter rare territory under Brendan Rodgers.
With City out of Europe following their semi-final second leg defeat to Roma on Thursday night, they have just five Premier League games to go before their season concludes. And unlike in previous couple of years, they have nothing to play for over the next few weeks.
With City 10 points shy of West Ham in seventh, the final European spot, qualifying for continental football for the third straight year seems very unlikely, even if they have two games in hand. When asked what City had to play for over the final month of the campaign, Rodgers said: “Pride, first and foremost.
“We owe it to the supporters to finish as high as we can. That’s what we'll look to do, starting at the weekend (against Everton). We have plenty of games over the next few weeks, so let's finish as strong as we can and let’s take that into pre-season.”
Without European football, City will have a much quieter campaign, unlike the 58 games they will eventually have played across all competitions this term. That will give Rodgers more time on the training pitch, something he believes will be important.
He added: “Since I came into here, we've tried to compete in every single competition. That’s what’s allowed us to win some trophies and go deep to the end of the season challenging. We won’t (be in Europe) next season, but the players will feel the experiences of these last couple of years in Europe, and next year, we can regroup.
“We will finish this season as strong as we can, and then the feelings we've had tonight will provide great motivation for us. Of course, when you have more coaching time and more preparation time, it