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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
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


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