Brendan Rodgers on Leicester squad’s reaction to trio’s COVID-19 breach and ‘incredible’ opportunity to reach first FA Cup final since 1969 ahead of Southampton clash

Brendan Rodgers has once again overachieved this season but the Leicester boss knows nothing has been accomplished yet as his side prepare for their crucial FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Rodgers’s men, who impressively sit third in the Premier League standings, are preparing for their Wembley battle with Southampton – a match you can follow live on talkSPORT.

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With the prospect of Champions League football on the horizon and a potential cup final on the cards, Leicester fans are on cloud nine – but they will not be getting ahead of themselves after they let the highest level of European football slip through their grasp last term.

The Foxes are aiming to reach the FA Cup final for the first time since 1969, with the semi-final against the Saints their first in a whopping 39 years.

However, preparations for the match haven’t been as smooth as Rodgers would have hoped for in recent weeks.

James Maddison, Ayoze Perez and Hamza Choudhury were all dropped for breaching coronavirus rules after they attended a party at Perez’s house following their defeat to Manchester City earlier this month.

And ahead of the semi-final at Wembley, talkSPORT caught up with Rodgers to discuss a wide range of subjects – and you can read the best bits below…

On trio’s coronavirus breach

“I don’t want to divulge too much as it’s a private meeting between the staff and the players but it’s safe to say we needed to come together after the previous week’s event.

“It was important to come together and I said clearly that we had to draw a line under it after the West Ham game.

“We were able to do that, the guys were able to apologise to their teammates and they accepted it.

“For me it’s done and it’s in the past, we can’t dwell on it as we have a really exciting and important game that everyone’s mind has to be focused on.

“We were able to mop out with clarity and now we have everyone fighting together to achieve a result.”

On lessons learnt from Carabao Cup defeat to Aston Villa last season

“You always learn from the big games. I think I’ve always said that in order to become a winner you have to understand losing.

“You have to be able to analyse it and there were a lot of elements from that game where we could have been better and that’s helped us in big games.

“You’ve seen our results in big games this season and they’ve been very good so we need to learn from that and put in a really good performance.”

On his personal development as a manager

“I’ve always been a learner my whole life. I always been pretty curious to get better.

“I talk about players’ development. You can develop a player at 12 or 13 but you can also develop a player that’s 34 or 35.

“I’m 48 now but when I’m 50 or 60 I’ll still be learning and developing. That’s just something in my make up.

“I want to learn and always curious to learn. It’s ten years this May that I was involved in the play-off final with Swansea and if I look a decade on in terms of management and experience, I’m a much better coach ten years on.

“I hope in ten years I can be an even better coach than I am now.”

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On meaning of FA Cup final for Leicester fans

“It’s a big motivator for us as it’s been such a long time since the club have arrived at the final.

“When you arrive in the final, you have a chance to lift the trophy. We know it’s going to be done and there will be moments in the game where we will be under pressure.

“But if we can get to the final, we have a chance of lifting it for the first time for the club.

“What an incredible motivator that is and that of course will give us a great joy to be able to do that.”

You can follow the FA Cup semi-final between Leicester and Southampton live on talkSPORT from 5.30pm on Sunday