Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers says Kelechi Iheanacho deserves respect for the difficult role he plays at the club, Completesports.com reports.
Iheanacho ended his 10-month drought on Tuesday when he headed in the second goal of Leicester City’s 3-0 pre-season win over Cambridge.
The Nigeria international had not scored since last September’s 3-1 home victory over Huddersfield and appeared to be suffering from a lack of confidence in front of goal.
With Jamie Vardy in form, Iheanacho was limited in his opportunities to end his dry patch and Rodgers has said that being a back-up striker is far from easy.
What (Kelechi) has to do, and I’m sure he will, is take his training form into the games,” Rodgers told LeicestershireLive.
“He’s been absolutely top class in training over pre-season, he’s been amazing. When we were away in Evian and he played in the practice game, he scored four goals out of five. He was sensational.
“He needs to take that into games. That’s key for him and I’m sure he’ll do that.
“It’s difficult. You have to respect his position. He’s a support striker for one of the best strikers in the Premier League. It’s not easy.
“All he can do is continue to work and work well and when the opportunities come, he’s got to take them.
“Once they start to go in, he’ll gain more confidence from that.”