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Brendan Rodgers: 'Leicester have made hard work of Champions League dream'

Brendan Rodgers: 'Leicester have made hard work of Champions League dream'
© Reuters
The Foxes go to Manchester United having slipped to fourth.

Boss Brendan Rodgers admits Leicester have made hard work of achieving their Champions League dream.

The Foxes have slipped to fourth in the Premier League table ahead of Tuesday's trip to Manchester United.

Friday's surprise 4-2 defeat to Newcastle allowed Chelsea to overtake Leicester with a 2-1 win at Manchester City.

West Ham's 1-0 defeat to Everton ensured the fifth-placed Hammers remain five points behind with three games left but Rodgers knows it should have been easier.

He said: "We are very close to achieving what we want but we know we have to fight and we have made it difficult for ourselves, that's the reality. In the last two games we haven't got the results we wanted to.

"That means we have to really push and look to win these games, starting with the next game.

"It (being in the top four) shows you how well they've done in a lot of the other games but we have got to play the Europa League finalists and the Champions League finalists in two of our last three league games."

The Foxes go to Old Trafford ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final – their first in 52 years – with Chelsea.

Jonny Evans is expected to miss out against his former club with a heel problem while James Justin and Harvey Barnes (both knee) are out.

Rodgers added: "It is what it is, Chelsea will have a game midweek (against Arsenal) as well. It's good to have a game to get Friday out of the system. We'll recover and get ready to go again.

"We have shown over the course of the season how the team is developing. It's about concentration and if you concentrate you give less possibilities to make mistakes.

"On Friday we lacked that, you do that against good players and they will punish you. That's the learning.

"Especially when you get young players, that's the learning they need to have in order to succeed."

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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