Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers admits the better side on the night won following their 2-1 defeat against Rovers in the FA Cup fifth round.

Tyrhys Dolan and Sam Szmodics were both on target during the opening hour at the King Power Stadium.

The hosts hit back through substitute Kelechi Iheanacho, but Jon Dahl Tomasson’s men held on to book their place in the quarter-final for the first time since 2015.

Rodgers told Sky Sports: “Congratulations to Blackburn, I think they were the better team.

“We obviously presented the couple of goals, giving the ball away cheaply for the first and likewise with the second.

“The player gets through the middle of our defence far too easily and gets his finish. Then you are chasing it at 2-0.

“We showed spirit and we showed a drive, but you have to show that when it is 0-0. You have to be able to impose your game and we weren’t able to do that.”

Rodgers’ side lifted the trophy back in 2021 following a 1-0 victory against Chelsea in the Wembley final.

The Leicester boss was frustrated to miss out on a place in the last eight this time around and admits it has been a challenging season so far.

“It is just consistency, mentality and ambition to succeed, and that has been too up and down for us,” he added.

“It doesn’t help when you continually present opportunities to teams. I’m really disappointed for the supporters because it has been a real challenge this season.

“The FA Cup was an opportunity for us to get to the quarter-final and we were playing against a Championship team at home. But I thought they were a lot better than us, and we have to be worried about that.”

The quarter-final draw will take place on Wednesday night after Sheffield United’s clash with Tottenham.

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