Leicester City Coach Praises Team’s Resilience Amidst Injury Woes

Leicester City has been plagued by injury after injury this season, but head coach Brendan Rodgers still has a full grasp on hope and optimism after seeing his team rise to the occasion against the Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.

The Foxes may have lost key players such as Wilfred Ndidi, Daniel Amartey, Caglar Soyuncu, Ricardo Pereira and Timothy Castagne to injury, but Rodgers' wards stepped up big time and never showed a tinge of discouragement as they clinched the solo lead in the English Premier League standings.

“It’s been an incredible start. I’m so happy for the players,” Rodgers said via Yahoo Sports.

From start to finish, Rodgers had to dig deep in his roster, filling the void of his sidelined players. Striker Jamie Vardy answered the clarion call as he scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot as Leicester City beat the Wolves, 1-0, at the King Power Stadium.

Vardy attempted to sink in another goal through his second penalty shot, but it was saved after Rayan Ait Nouri’s clumsy lunge on James Justin.

Meanwhile, center-back Jonny Evans had a valid reason to sit out as he is dealing with a back injury. Knowing what's at stake for his club, he chose to soldier on and played for over 90 minutes to make sure that they would walk out with their hands raised in triumph.

While they are being lauded for their never-say-die attitude, Rodgers believes that the majority of it has to do with the disappointment of falling short to qualify in the UEFA Champions League last year.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better start. I have always said failure is learning, and if anyone says not getting into the Champions League last season was failing, then okay. For us, it was about learning and developing,” he stated.

Now that they are on top of the team table, Rodgers and his crew have a bit of an excuse to host a carouse. But the manager knows that there is a lot of work to do and it's just the calm before the storm.

“It’s going to be tough to sustain that with the injuries we’ve had, but we have played 12 games and won nine in all competitions. It has been an incredible focus. Our idea is to sustain that, but I can’t promise,” he explained.

Despite being in a peculiar circumstance, Rodgers acknowledged that the admiration he has for his players grows by the day.

“We have seen that this season, the players are developing, and to show that mentality and desire is so pleasing,” he conceded.

Leicester City is expected to pick up where they left off once the games resume after the international break. Their return assignment will be against Liverpool on Nov. 21.