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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
James Nursey

Brendan Rodgers maps out Leicester plan after snubbing Newcastle

Brendan Rodgers has ruled out a switch to Newcastle after setting his sights on taking Leicester to new heights using some tough love.

Rodgers concedes the £305million Saudi takeover of Toon will make life even more competitive for his ambitious Foxes.

But he has challenged his players not to rest on their achievements after a lacklustre start to this term since winning the FA Cup last season.

Rodgers has now vowed to make his stars “uncomfortable” in a bid to get them producing again ahead of Manchester United ’s visit on Saturday.

City boss Rodgers said: “I have a contract until 2025, I absolutely love being here.

“I am very fortunate I have a great chief executive who runs the club and I have a group of players I really enjoy working with.

“For me as long as they don’t want to move me, then I am very happy being here at the club.

“I am focused on my job and my role.

“Of course there will be richer clubs than ourselves here but we have a great infrastructure and one that allows us to at least compete.

“The league now has lots of teams with lots of money.

“We have all seen the reports of what Newcastle aim to do over the next five-10 years.

“It is going to add another team which will make it even more difficult to arrive into those top positions.

“But I came here to disrupt the market and we want to compete and be fighting.

“For some of these players what we have done over these last couple of seasons may well be what they think is the best they could do.

“But I am here to win and I want to keep challenging and keep pushing.

“For that we have no compromise.

“You have to get uncomfortable again to keep striving to be the best you can be.”

Brendan Rodgers has challenged Leicester's stars to keep pushing for more glory (Pool via REUTERS)

Leicester have come fifth the previous two seasons but this campaign has been undermined by injuries to stars like Jonny Evans , Wesley Fofana and Wilfred Ndidi.

It has left them languishing 13th in the Premier League and bottom of Group C in the Europa League.

They have not won in the top-flight in four attempts and Rodgers has tried to press reset since their last game at Crystal Palace, which ended 2-2.

He added: “The international break has been a great opportunity to reflect.

“I looked at the team as if i was first coming in.

“I was able to look at it from a dispassionate position and assess the team.

“It is really about resetting and getting back to the fundamentals of our game.

“I have identified where we need to be at and the level we need to be at, fixing that is my responsibility.

Brendan Rodgers guided Leicester to their first FA Cup win last season (Leicester City FC via Getty Imag)

“I looked at where we can improve of which there are many areas.

“We need to get back to fundamentally how we press the game and synchronise so we are all together.

“Then play that dynamic fast football with confidence which allows us to create opportunities and score.

“We will look to get back to that level over the coming weeks.

“It might be a reverse this season where we don’t quite start the same but it is really all about how you finish the season.”

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