Brendan Rodgers praised his opposite number Unai Emery ahead of their Premier League fixture this weekend and called him 'an outstanding coach'. 

Leicester City travel to Aston Villa this weekend in the teams first meeting of the season after the reverse fixture was postponed in September and is yet to be rearranged.

Ahead of this game, Rodgers has raised a few eyebrows by describing the fixture as a 'derby game' despite the two teams being separated by over forty miles and neither considering the other a 'rival'.

On his opposite number and the game this Saturday, Rodgers said: "Unai has made a great impact and it is not a surprise. His body of work has shown he is a fantastic coach. The problem sometimes in the Premier League is that you can get written off as a has-been after just two months.

"But it is a derby game and it is a great stadium to play at. We want to play our football but we know that we also have to fight."

'Coventry Flair'

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The Foxes have had a busier January transfer window than normal with three new signings coming through the door. After the arrival of Victor Kristiansen earlier in the window, Leicester also brought in Tete and Harry Souttar in the last few days of the window as well.

The signing of Tete in particular - the first ever Brazilian to join Leicester - has caused a lot of excitement among supporters as they look forward to seeing him make his debut. And Rodgers, when asked about the Brazilian flair Tete would bring to the side, was quick to praise him.

He said: "We have also got Coventry flair as well! But he [Tete] plays outside, which is where I like wingers to be. He is good in one-vs-one situations. He secures the ball very well and his touch is immaculate. He threatens the backline and has an eye for goal.

"The club did great. He is tough too. Any Brazilian I have worked with, they have that love of football.

"He is a very talented young player who did well at Shakhtar Donetsk and Lyon. He has settled in very well and has shown his qualities already."

Rodgers was also keen to speak about the deadline day arrival of Souttar as well. 

He said: "After seeing Harry as a young player and then the trauma of coming through a serious injury, I spoke to a number of people I respect about him.

"He is on the way up. He did very well at Stoke and I saw him in Scotland as a young player. He gives us that stature but you have also seen in the World Cup that he can play as well.

"It is about hunger as well. He was available and affordable for where we were at. If it was not us, he would have gone to another club. We will see great improvements in him as he fits the model."

Injury update

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For a long time, Leicester's injury woes just seem to have getting worse. However, Rodgers was able to give a positive update on where players were at this week, but admitted new signing Souttar did arrive at the club with an injury.

He said: "The team is looking well and we have trained well. We have got one or two we need to look at in terms of availability. Jamie [Vardy] has not done so much but he is now out on the field. We need to see his reaction.

"Some guys will be next week like Bouba [Soumare] or Jonny [Evans]. They will train next week. Ricardo will play in a game next week as he has looked great in training.

"We just have to see about his [Souttar's] hip issue. He trained with the squad today. He is one I need to assess. He will certainly be ready to go for the following weekend."

Rodgers also advised that Wilfred Ndidi would miss this weekend's game at Villa due to a personal issue but the rest of the squad are all available for the trip to the West Midlands on Saturday afternoon.

 

 

 

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