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Brendan Rodgers: 'Leicester will not moan or groan about fixture schedule'

The Foxes are third and 10 points clear of Aston Villa but the hosts do have two games in hand.

Brendan Rodgers is confident Leicester can cope with a packed fixture list and hinted he will continue to make changes to keep his side fresh.

The Foxes make the short trip to Aston Villa on Sunday in the middle of a busy spell with the Europa League back under way and plenty to fight for in the Premier League and FA Cup.

While Leicester's injury list is growing, the demands on the club will only increase but their manager is confident third-placed City can handle it.

Rodgers told the official club website: "I think it's that balance between having consistency in the team but you know, especially how we play with energy and tempo, you need players to be as fresh as they possibly can be.

"It's a balance. Obviously there's a lot of games and we want to keep this consistency and keep winning, so it is a challenge, especially when you have players injured.

"But the beauty of this group of players that we have here is they don't moan or groan. We just get on with it.

"If someone's out, it's unfortunate, but the next guy comes in and performs to a high level. That's our plan for this next period, getting through the games, each game at a time and we'll do everything to get the result."

Including this weekend's trip to Midlands rivals Villa, Leicester will play seven times in the next four weeks before the March international break.

Rodgers' men have already played 12 fixtures in all competitions in 2021 and the Foxes will hope to add more games to their schedule by getting past Slavia Prague in the last-32 of the Europa League after the first leg finished goalless on Thursday.

Someone who will not be part of the business end of the campaign is full-back James Justin, who sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage earlier this month.

The former Luton defender had his operation on Thursday and the Leicester boss revealed it had been a success.

"It's gone very well, so he begins his recovery process now," Rodgers added.

"We wish JJ a speedy recovery. He's been such a brilliant player for me since he's come into the club and, obviously in particular, this last year, where he's broke into the team.

"It's devastating for us that he went and got injured, but he'll be back stronger and fitter than he was before, I'm pretty sure."

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
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2Arsenal281510352242855
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest28156745331251
4Chelsea28147753361749
5Manchester CityMan City28145953381547
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2814594738947
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton28121064640646
8Aston Villa2912984145-445
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11Crystal Palace2810993633339
12Brentford28115124844438
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14Manchester UnitedMan Utd2897123440-634
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17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2865173857-1923
18Ipswich TownIpswich2838172658-3217
19Leicester CityLeicester2845192562-3717
20Southampton2823232068-489


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