'They deserved to win' - Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers gives full credit to Leeds United in defeat

Leicester City head coach Brendan Rodgers gave full credit to Leeds United following the Whites 3-1 victory at the King Power stadium.

Marcelo Bielsa's outfit claimed an impressive win over the Foxes on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League.

It was the first time Rodgers had seen his team drop points from a winning position this season after Harvey Barnes opened the scoring in the 13th minute.

The hosts were ahead for a little over sixty seconds as Stuart Dallas restored parity by striking a lovely first time finish from inside the box.

Leeds were then forced to battle hard but were handed the advantage as Patrick Bamford powered a stunning effort into the top corner of the net with 20 minutes left on the clock.

Leicester responded and Illan Meslier was forced into a string of saves.

Jack Harrison, though, ensured Leeds would return to West Yorkshire with all the points as the winger tapped home to finish off an incisive break away from Bamford six minutes from time.

Rodgers - who saw his players taste defeat for the first time in eight outings - was full of praise for the visitors following the full-time whistle.

"They deserved to win," the Foxes boss reflected post-match.

"I think we've been on a fantastic run that was going to come to an end at some point. We had a really good start to the game but gave away a cheap goal from our perspective quickly after [the opener].

"We had other opportunities but they were giving us problems with their running against the back line.

"We changed it. We then make a good start to the second half and had a couple of great chances.

"Then we concede what is a great finish from Patrick Bamford but from our perspective we gave away the ball and in transition they punished us.

"We weren't quite at our level today but you have to give them full credit because they took their opportunities."

Leicester were missing leading goalscorer Jamie Vardy and midfielder Wilfred Ndidi for the encounter.

Although Rodgers admitted his side missed the duo against Bielsa's men, he failed to use their absence as the reason for defeat.

"I think you could see that and probably everyone watching the game could see in certain moments those two players are real quality for us," he said.

"The thing we missed was their physicality in the game. I think our physical players were good but there were areas where we needed more - but we've also won games without them.

"I think it was more of a case that we didn't defend as well as we would've liked and we didn't take the opportunities when they were there.

"It wasn't our day. We didn't defend well enough. We gave away three poor goals."

Asked about whether the concession of the levelling goal to Leeds played a huge factor in the defeat, Rodgers said: "I think most definitely. It was a disappointing goal from our perspective.

"We gave the ball away cheaply and then from that we didn't close the space quick enough.

"They break away and get the goal. It wasn't good but you give credit to them. All four goals were in the transition phase of the game. That was key. We went on the attack and then they came back to burst through and scored.

"We controlled parts of the game but if we could hang onto the 1-0 for longer then we may have been able to do what we have done in other games."