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Leicester City won’t be forced into signing players this January simply because “it looks nice on Sky Sports”.

City manager Brendan Rodgers hopes to improve his squad this month but has stated that he does not want to stockpile players that do not fit the identity of the club, nor the long-term vision at the King Power Stadium.

Bringing in a centre-back is the priority for City, particularly after Wes Morgan and Filip Benkovic were substituted with injuries during the win over Wigan. Juventus’s Turlish international defender Merih Demiral is on their radar.

“Every team would like to strengthen in the window,” said Rodgers. “But only if the players are available and that is key.

“I don’t want to stockpile players. I don’t want to bring in a player for a player’s sake, because it looks nice on Sky Sports on a yellow bar and says: ‘Leicester City have signed a player.’

“It has to be part of our plan and identity as a team. If we can do that then great. if not we will go with the same squad.

“We can’t do what probably a lot of the teams in the top six can do and they can spend £50m, £60m, £70m, £80m, whatever on a player. We can’t do that and the strategy is totally different and we are all comfortable with that.

“I think people understand what we are trying to do. There are clubs with a bigger status who will offer bigger wages.

“A player who comes here or who wants to come here knows why he wants to come. It is a fantastic club, a really exciting team, playing in a style of football that they can enjoy and develop. We are very ambitious as a team and club.”

City are in an excellent position to lure players with the club likely to be able to offer Champions League football. They have a 14-point gap to fifth-placed Manchester United, but Rodgers is not considering the buffer.

“If you lose three games in the Premier League as a manager, you are under big pressure.

“So there are no free hits. Whether it is the league, League Cup, the FA Cup, I put out a team to look to get through.

“We are 14 points clear but we can’t look below. We have to keep looking up and the ambition is to keep collecting points but also keep playing well and hopefully we will finish as high as we can.”

With fixtures coming thick and fast in all three competitions, City have rotated considerably of late.

That saw winger Harvey Barnes lead the line in the FA Cup win over Wigan, with Rodgers suggesting he would want more from a striker.

“We want to play lots of games in the future and you need to be robust and ready physically and mentally,” said Rodgers. “These players are developing that.

“In time [Barnes] will develop his movements in that role. He gave it a go and he showed some good moments especially spinning in behind with his speed.

“I would want more from a technical and tactical perspective from any player playing in that position that was not a natural striker, and for them to come underneath a little bit more. It was his first attempt at it and he did fairly well.”