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Rodgers names one ‘big disappointment’ Leicester take away from Aston Villa loss

Brendan Rodgers revealed he only had one issue with Leicester City in the first half of their loss to Aston Villa – until a “big disappointment” caused things to unravel after the break.

Leicester went ahead against Villa when Harvey Barnes scored in the 14th minute. But Villa hit back three minutes later with the last touch coming off Ezri Konsa. The defender scored again with a header in the second half to ensure Leicester took no points away from Villa Park.

It brought an end to a three-game unbeaten run across all competitions for a Leicester side who have not been as consistent as they would have hoped for so far this season.

Villa boss Steven Gerrard, who used to play under Rodgers at Liverpool, observed how his own side performed much better in the second half than the first.

And Rodgers noticed the opposite pattern from his own side, admitting how disappointed he was with their display after the break.

Rodgers told Match of the Day: “I was really pleased with the first half apart from the goal we conceded. We dominated the game, got into some really good areas, some of our play was really incisive.

“My only issue at half time was the defensive transition. When the ball was dead, we switched off and that allowed three or four counter attacks. But apart from that, we were in a good position.

“In the second half, we didn’t get going. We started slowly and conceded the goal from the header and all of a sudden you’re having to chase the game again. That is the big disappointment.”

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Schmeichel reflects Brendan Rodgers assessment

After their 15th Premier League game of the season, Leicester are 11th in the table. It is not where they were expecting to be after finishing fifth in each of the past two seasons.

Captain and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel echoed Rodgers’ views that their first-half performance was good enough to have earned them a bigger lead than they managed.

However, he is aware of the issues they are dealing with as they look to put things right.

He told Match of the Day: “We created enough to win the game. We should have been at least one goal up at half-time. Their keeper then made a very good save in the second half.

“We conceded from another set-piece. We’re continuing to work on that.

“At the moment we aren’t scoring enough and we’re conceding. That’s a recipe for a bad run. We’re not where we want to be.”

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