MX23RW : Thursday, May 9 23:12:00| >> :120:23794:23794:

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
1Arsenal36265588286083
2Manchester CityMan City35257387335482
3Liverpool36239481384378
4Aston Villa36207973532067
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs351861169581160
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle351751378562256
7Chelsea351591170591154
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd35166135255-354
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham361310135670-1449
10Bournemouth36139145263-1148
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton351211125357-447
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves36137164960-1146
13Fulham36128165155-444
14Crystal Palace361110154957-843
15Everton36129153849-1137
16Brentford3699185260-836
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3689194563-1829
18Luton TownLuton3668224978-2926
19Burnley3659223974-3524
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd36372635100-6516


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!