Need the latest Foxes transfer news? Get FREE email alerts for Leicester City FC Sign up! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Brendan Rodgers has told his wingers they must “do more” if Leicester City are to sustain a challenge at the top of the Premier League.

In a forthright appraisal of his wide options, Rodgers urged Harvey Barnes, Ayoze Perez, Marc Albrighton and Demarai Gray to ease the load on Jamie Vardy, with the wing quartet scoring just one goal between them in the Premier League this season.

Barnes and Gray provided the assists for Vardy and Youri Tielemans’ goals in the 2-1 victory over Burnley on Saturday, but Rodgers is still not happy with their contributions so far this campaign, and said they perform better when making cameo appearances as substitutes.

“Our wingers need to do more,” Rodgers said. “The problem is they are better coming off the bench.

“This is me being honest. We need more from the players on the sides, so when they come into the game like Demarai, he shows something or does something… we need more from that area of the pitch both in goals and contributions.

“There is potential there of course but there needs to be more efficiency.

“The beauty of it is they’re young, they have time, they’ll develop and improve. But at this level and the level we want to compete at, there needs to be more efficiency.

“I’m not sure (why they perform better from the bench). Maybe there’s no pressure.

“But that’s an area of the field we have to be better in, because we cannot always rely on the same players scoring the goals all the time – Jamie Vardy, Youri Tielemans.

“It needs to be more, so if we want to be at the top end of this league there needs to be greater efficiency.

“These guys work very hard. There’s a big demand on them to press, to be aggressive, but also we do it to create chances and score goals. We had a couple that came across to wingers, chances to score, and it just didn’t quite happen.

“But I’m sure over the course of the season the numbers will improve.”

Rodgers said he will be coaching them to make more intelligent runs and get into more threatening positions.

However, that does mean he will allow the wide players to duck out of defensive work.

“You can [coach them], but it’s a will to want to do it as well, to run towards the ball, not be static, make movements,” he said.

“That’s part of the process, part of the development. That’s why we’re here to try to coach them and help them.

“I had a player at Celtic, James Forrest, whose numbers when I arrived weren’t so good, and then eventually he got into areas where he could score more and then his numbers were fantastic in terms of scoring goals and creating goals.

“But you need to have that, to want to score and get in there, want to do that. You can’t go through the season as a winger with one goal or two goals.

“There’s no doubt [they can get better], but you can’t wave the magic wand. It’s creating the mentality, creating the condition every day to work and improve.

“The players are doing that, the mentality is getting better and that is the exciting thing I have with this group, there is so much more to come from them.

“While we do that, I never bulls**t them. This is a big level and if we want to be up there and be there, there’s a price to pay.

“No [we would not lose anything defensively], that’s your job. Don’t run forward if you can’t run back.

“You saw Sadio Mane last week. He played a game during the week, and he was back in, tracking Ben Chilwell in the game. It’s not a choice, it’s an obligation. You have to do it if you want to be a top player.”