The Leicester City manager has heaped praises on the Nigeria international after his impressive displays in recent weeks.
Iheanacho scored a goal and provided an assist in the 4-1 victory over Aston Villa at the weekend. The 23-year-old had achieved similar feat against Everton in his first Premier League game of the season.
Coming off the substitute bench with the Foxes trailing to a Richarlison goal, Iheanacho supplied the final pass to Jamie Vardy’s equalizer before curling home the winner deep into stoppage time.
With four goals in his four appearances this term – Iheanacho has also claimed two goals in two matches in the EFL Cup – the Super Eagles forward has been drawing applause from different quarters.
Leicester City boss Rodgers is one of the many pleased with how the former Manchester City striker has been interpreting his role on the pitch this season. The former Liverpool manager is convinced that the young forward is reaping the dividends of applying the tips offered to him.
“I thought he was great. He played the role how we wanted him to play. He creates Jamie’s first goal, gets the second one with a good finish,” Rodgers told the Leicester Mercury.
“All I said to him was just work hard in training, that’s all you can do. Don’t worry about being picked or not, that’s the manager’s choice.”
According to Rodgers, hard work in training remains the secret to becoming and staying excellent for Iheanacho.
“But as long as you’re working hard and giving me something to think about, then that’s all you can do. He’s been first class in his training.
“It’s just a case of him coming in with confidence. I thought he was very good [against Aston Villa], his hold-up play, his link-up with the midfield. He was excellent.
“With any player, if their confidence is low, they don’t play so well. Every single player has confidence. For him (Iheanacho), you can see his level is at a nice high level. He just needs to keep working, that’s the key to it.”
Leicester City are second on the Premier League table, six points ahead of champions, Man City, but eight points behind leaders, Liverpool. However, an in-form Iheanacho can help fuel the title challenge of the Foxes.
