Leicester 'hungry' for more trophies ahead of Europa Conference League clash with Roma

Foxes drew with Serie A side 1-1 in semi-final first leg and now head to Italy for Thursday's decider

James Maddison training on the eve of Leicester City's Europa Conference League semi-final second leg against Roma. AFP

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers oversees training. AFP

Leicester City's Hamza Choudhury, right, during training. Reuters

Leicester City players stretch during training ahead of the match against Roma. AFP

Leicester's Jamie Vardy, centre, with Hamza Choudhury, left, and Harvey Barnes, right. AFP

Leicester City's James Maddison during training. PA

Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel heads out for training. PA

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, right, with teammates during training. AFP

Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, left, during training. AFP

Leicester striker Ayoze Perez during training. AFP

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers speaks to Youri Tielemans at training. AFP

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers says his players "are all hungry to succeed" ahead of their Europa Conference League semi-final second leg against Roma on Thursday.

The Foxes, managed by Claudio Ranieri, stunned football by winning the Premier League in 2016 and last season they secured a first FA Cup in the club's history under the guidance of Rodgers.

And now they are one game away from reaching a European final after drawing with Jose Mourinho's Roma 1-1 at the King Power Stadium last week.

“This is our biggest game of the season,” said Rodgers, whose team dropped to the Conference League after failing to progress from the Europa League group stage.

“This is another step forward for us in the maturation of the team. We will gain from the experience, we have shown we can complete the task. You have to embrace that.

“That’s what we have been trying to create here, a winning mentality, and for some players they have to adapt to that. It takes time and these are experiences you want the players to learn from.

“It’s something they are hungry for and we are all hungry to succeed.

“This is another chapter of the story. Our main objective is to keep the story of this club going, like we did in the FA Cup. We wanted to be the winners for the first time and we wanted that to be an objective in this competition as well."

Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was part of the famous 2016 side that won the league title, now wants another trophy to add to his collection as he leads them into the Stadio Olimpico.

Leicester 1 Roma 1: player ratings

"It’s a European trophy, every one is important, every competition you can win is important. I don’t play football to finish fourth, fifth or sixth. You do it for the occasions regardless of competitions.

“It’s about winning trophies. That’s what fans and players look back on, those moments when you got to lift trophies.

“The infrastructure of the club is in place to be successful. If we were to reach the final, that’s sustained success over a period of time in terms of finals reached and trophies won.

“A club like Leicester is attractive as we have one of the best facilities in the world. We have lots of talent in the squad, an amazing manager and owner, the infrastructure is there that needs to be.

“It’s no secret we’re unhappy with our league form but it’s been such a crazy season – congestion of fixtures, injuries, Covid, all these factors we’ve had to contend with.

“That’s made it a very difficult season to manage having players fit for all games but winning trophies is what you’re in football for and, whatever competition it may be, we spend so much time and sacrifice – so much you may as well go for top prize.”

James Maddison and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall are fit for the Italy trip, with Jamie Vardy also available after his return last week.