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Daniel Amartey: Leicester City boss Rodgers reacts to Ghanaian's return from injury in Arsenal defeat
The 25-year-old earned praise from his club manager after making his first competitive appearances for the club in two years
Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his satisfaction by the performance of Ghana defender Daniel Amartey in his return to competitive action for the first time in two years.
After suffering an ankle injury while in Premier League action against West Ham United in October 2018, the 25-year-old marked his comeback with 90 minutes of action in what ended in a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in the League Cup on Wednesday.
“I thought that our approach to the game, the attitude and energy in the team was very good. We pressed the ball really, really well," Rodgers said, as reported by his club's official website.
“A lot of these players are getting [their] first minutes of the season. Daniel Amartey [is] playing his first game in nearly two years.
"If you’re going to lose the game, you want to lose it with that mentality and the attitude, and I think the players gave us absolutely everything.
“We just probably ran out of legs a little bit towards the end and that obviously affected our quality in the final third.
“You never want to lose a game, but if you do and you have that attitude and energy then it always bodes well going forward.”
Earlier this month, Amartey took a giant step on his road to full fitness with 45 minutes of action for Leicester in a 1-1 pre-season draw with Blackburn Rovers, scoring his side's goal.
Wednesday's game was his second senior game in all for The Foxes in two years.
“We’re disappointed with the goals, that was our only criticism, but we had lots of positives. Daniel Amartey with his first game in two years, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Luke Thomas did well too," Rodgers said.
“Amartey has consistently trained and his mentality is first class. He’s a very honest guy, his defensive qualities are strong and how he lasted the game was very good.”
In May, Amartey's Ghanaian representative Yussif Alhassan Chibsah revealed the player was on his way out of the club due to a lack of first-team opportunities at King Power Stadium.
He signed for Leicester from Danish outfit FC Copenhagen in 2016 and helped the English side win the Premier League five months later.
