Thursday 17 October 2019 15:25, UK
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has questioned whether there is an "agenda" behind stories about James Maddison's off-field persona during an impassioned defence of the midfielder.
Having been sent home from England duty with illness, Maddison faced criticism after being photographed in a Leicester casino during Gareth Southgate's side defeat to the Czech Republic last Friday night.
While accepting that Maddison "made a mistake" and agreeing with Southgate that the 22-year-old will learn from the incident, Rodgers was fiercely defensive of the in-form playmaker.
"The suggestions are that he left England purposely being ill and then goes to a casino - it's totally not the case at all," Rodgers said. "But his eyes have been opened to the wider world now.
"I want to reiterate because this is a player that I've seen in the last few months, various stories around his arrogance, around his mentality and they're totally false. I'm not sure where the stories are coming from but it's not what this boy's about.
"He's a very talented player. He has a belief in his ability. He's a wonderful personality on the field and he's actually a really, really good boy off of it. He wants to learn, he wants to be better, he's desperate to play for England, of course he is - that's his ambition, that's his life."
Rodgers also confirmed that Maddison has made a full recovery and will be available for selection as Leicester host Burnley on Saturday.
Maddison has failed to make his international debut despite being included in the last two England squads after making an impressive start to the Premier League season with Leicester, which left the club fourth going into the international break.
