Brendan Rodgers insists Wesley Fofana & James Maddison remain committed to Leicester | OneFootball

Leicester City boss has explained he started Wesley Fofana and James Maddison in Sunday's Premier League clash at home to Brentford because he believes their 'commitment' has not wavered.

Fofana is the subject of intense interest from Chelsea and the Blues remain locked in talks regarding a deal for the defender, while Leicester have already knocked back two bids from Newcastle for Maddison.

Nevertheless, Rodgers chose to play both from the start in their 2-2 draw with Brentford, and explained this decision in his pre-match press conference.

When asked whether Fofana and Maddison were appropriately focused, Rodgers replied: "Yes, 100 per cent. I think it's always a challenging time until the window shuts.

"There's always speculation and gossip around players leaving but I always assess the players everyday and if their mentality and commitment doesn't change, then that's all you want.

"So, yeah, both players are very important players for us and I look forward to seeing them play."

Whereas Rodgers opted to start two players who are the subject of transfer speculation, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel took a different approach prior to their win at Everton on Saturday.

The German confirmed post-match that he dropped Marcos Alonso because he had asked to join Barcelona, while RB Leipzig-bound Timo Werner was similarly omitted from the matchday squad, though he is working his way back from injury too.