MX23RW : Friday, November 15 18:40:30| >> :60:2819:2819:

Brendan Rodgers affirms Jamie Vardy will play in FA Cup

The 34-year-old made his comeback after three matches out with a 30-minute substitute appearance in Sunday's goalless draw at Wolves.

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has no intention of shielding striker Jamie Vardy from the rigours of the FA Cup after his recent groin operation.

The 34-year-old made his comeback after three matches out with a 30-minute substitute appearance in Sunday's goalless draw at Wolves and Rodgers wants to use Wednesday's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Brighton to sharpen him up ahead of the weekend visit of Liverpool.

"Wednesday is a big game for us. He hasn't lost too much fitness, that's the reality of it. He's got a great level of fitness," said Rodgers.

"He'd obviously had the 10 days out, he'd trained a bit with the team, and then we gave him the half-hour.

"You can see what he brings to the team. We'll definitely get him some minutes on Wednesday, whether that's in the first period of the game, or the second, so he'll feature at some point."

With a place in the quarter-finals at stake, Rodgers has to strike a balance between managing the workload of his places and doing enough to progress to the next round.

He played the likes of Youri Tielemans, James Maddison, Harvey Barnes, Nampalys Mendy and Ayoze Perez in the previous round against Brentford.

"We'll make changes but it will be a strong 11. We have to consider the month of games and the early kick-off (against Liverpool on Saturday).

"I'm also going to take a look at one or two of our talented young players. I feel it's the right time to put them in.

"With young players, you'll never know until you put them in. It's something we've done all season, but we want to get into the quarter-finals."

Defender Timothy Castagne is not yet ready to return after a hamstring injury, which has kept him out of the last two games.

The Foxes boss added: "He is probably another week to 10 days away. He's obviously been working well with the medical team, but he's still a little bit of time away."

ID:434357: cacheID:434357:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3820:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Burnley manager Sean Dyche pictured on January 24, 2021
Read Next:
Sean Dyche pleased with Burnley attack against Brighton
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!