Rodgers admits Leicester City missed Ndidi: 'We clearly lack physicality'

Brendan Rodgers has disclosed Leicester City missed the services of Wilfred Ndidi since he got injured.

The Premier League side failed to reach the final of the Europa Conference League after losing 1-0 to AS Roma on Thursday night.

Tammy Abraham’s first-half header from Lorenzo Pellegrini’s corner kick separated both teams at the Stadio Olimpico as Jose Mourinho’s men progressed 2-1 on aggregate.

The Nigeria international was unavailable for selection for the 11th successive game due to a knee injury, and Rodgers has conceded that the King Power Stadium giants have suffered in his absence.

"The corner’s been an Achilles heel for us all season to be perfectly honest, so to concede the goal in that manner was hugely disappointing,” Rodgers told LCFC TV.

"It's been an issue for us all season. We clearly lack physicality. The courage is there for the players, but clearly, within the team, especially with Wilf [Ndidi] missing, we don’t have the physicality in the team. 

“That has been a problem for us all season. We’ve tried man-marking, we’ve tried zonal, but it’s too easy to score.

"In the second half, we decided to change it and we really imposed the game. We got well into the final third, we just needed that little bit of luck or that final bit of quality to break through.”

Ndidi suffered the injury during the Foxes’ 2-1 defeat to Rennes in the Europa Conference League on March 17. 

His absence also prevented him from featuring in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualification play-off against Ghana, as Augustine Eguavoen’s Super Eagles failed to qualify for the global football showpiece in Qatar. 

Regardless, Rodgers picked positives from the setback while hoping his team qualifies for Europe next season. 

"Over the last couple of seasons, European football will have opened their eyes," he continued. 

"A lot of them had never experienced that before. Especially this season, coming deep into a European competition is a great experience for them.

"They’ll be reborn again next year with that notion that they can look to qualify for Europe and have many more nights. You lose, but you really learn, and I’m sure the players will learn tonight.

"We want to finish the season as strong as we can, as best as we can. We wanted to reach the final… we haven’t done that, but every game now is very, very important for us and we’ll look to show a good reaction and finish the season as high as we can."

Leicester City will now prepare for a home fixture against Everton on Sunday, which comes three days before hosting Norwich City.