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Brendan Rodgers looking forward to "exciting" 2020 for Leicester City

Brendan Rodgers looking forward to
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The Foxes lie second in the Premier League and have a Carabao Cup semi-final against Aston Villa to look forward to next month.

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers is gearing up for an "exciting" year ahead.

The Foxes lie second in the Premier League and have a Carabao Cup semi-final against Aston Villa to look forward to next month.

Leicester proved the strength of their squad when a much-changed side beat West Ham 2-1 on Saturday, and Rodgers said: "I told the players that we start the new year before that match, the second part of the season, and 2020 could be a very exciting time for us.

"We've got a big month, a lot of games, a semi-final and of course our objective is to get to Wembley.

"Our focus really above everything is on our next game and how to recover the players. But it's an exciting time for the club."

Defeats by Liverpool and Manchester City either side of Christmas showed there is still a gap to be bridged to the elite.

The transfer January window provides an opportunity for Leicester to make further inroads, but Rodgers insists they are in no hurry to splash the cash.

"Over time what we want to do is develop, there's no doubt about that, if we're going to compete with your Manchester Citys and Liverpools," he added.

"We know we need extra quality and different profiles of players, but it's step by step. We're not a club that can just go out and spend £80-90million on a player. The club doesn't work that way.

"We have to bring in a certain type of player, develop him and allow him to grow into our way.

"That's why I'm here, to try to aid that development for the players and for the team and create a culture that can hopefully allow us to sustain European football.

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"We've got some fantastic players but of course everybody would like to improve. The players have to be affordable and available for that.

"But that's something the club will look after – they're very, very good at that recruitment side. If the club can get them, then I'm sure they will."

Jamie Vardy will return against Newcastle on New Year's Day having missed the West Ham match after his wife gave birth to their daughter.

Ricardo Pereira is expected to be fit after resting a tight hamstring.

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Demarai Gray celebrates scoring for Leicester on December 28, 2019
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool20191049143558
2Leicester CityLeicester21143446192745
3Manchester CityMan City21142556243244
4Chelsea2111373629736
5Manchester UnitedMan Utd218763225731
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs218673630630
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves217953027330
8Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd217862321229
9Crystal Palace217771923-428
10Arsenal216962830-227
11Everton2174102432-825
12Southampton2174102538-1325
13Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2174102033-1325
14Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton216692529-424
15Burnley2173112434-1024
16West Ham UnitedWest Ham2064102532-722
17Aston Villa2163122737-1021
18Bournemouth2155112032-1220
19Watford2147101734-1719
20Norwich CityNorwich2135132241-1914

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