The Foxes are currently third in the Premier League after Sunday's 0-0 draw at Wolves; Leicester play Brighton in FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday and travel to Slavia Prague in the last 32 of the Europa League in 10 days
Tuesday 9 February 2021 15:18, UK
Brendan Rodgers has no intention of shielding Leicester forward Jamie Vardy from the rigours of the FA Cup after his recent groin operation.
The Foxes are currently third in the Premier League after Sunday's 0-0 draw at Wolves, and host Brighton in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday before travelling to Slavia Prague in the last 32 of the Europa League in 10 days.
But despite the hectic schedule, Rodgers will resist the temptation to rest the forward who missed three matches through the injury before returning as a second-half substitute in Sunday's draw.
"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 will instead aim to strike a balance between managing the workload of his players and doing enough to progress.
"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."
