How Aston Villa star found his way after Blackpool stint and Manchester City exit ahead of big PSG tie

The attacker was recruited on loan by the Seasiders, with the 22-year-old initially reunited with Michael Appleton - whom he had previously worked with at Lincoln City.

He later worked under Mick McCarthy during his short-lived spell, and then interim boss Stephen Dobbie, as the Fylde Coast outfit suffered relegation from the Championship.

Rogers’ time in Tangerine saw him post one goal and one assist in 22 outings. The stint ultimately brought an end to his time on the books of Manchester City, with the Citizens selling him to Middlesbrough.

It was while at the Riverside Stadium, that the youngster caught the eye of Aston Villa.

After scoring seven goals and providing nine assists for the North Yorkshire outfit in the Championship, Rogers was snapped up by Unai Emery’s side - where he has proven to be a sensation.

In 62 appearances for the Lions so far, he has assisted 13 goals and found the back of the net 17 times - with four of those coming in the Champions League.

His impressive form at Villa Park has seen him selected for the England senior team, and could see him in the frame to be part of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for next year’s World Cup.

In an interview with ITV Sport last month discussed his past troubles while out on loan, including his spell at Bloomfield Road.

“The Lincoln one went so well - playing with freedom and confidence, playing with a smile on my face,” he admitted.

“It was a great group with a great manager. After the struggle when I first went to (Man) City, the freedom and excitement came back into my game, and I kind of found myself again.

“The next one (Bournemouth), I didn’t play, and I struggled for seven or eight months. I lost myself again; I lost my identity in terms of the player I wanted to be.

“That confidence went, and then I got injured for six months. Then I went out on loan to Blackpool to play for a manager who I played for at Lincoln just to get games, but he got sacked after two games.

“Those three years were hard for different reasons.”

Big test for Aston Villa

This evening, Rogers faces one of the biggest tests of his entire career, as Aston Villa welcome PSG to Villa Park for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.

The 22-year-old was on the scoresheet in the first meeting between the two sides at the Parc des Princes, but the occasion ultimately ended in a 3-1 defeat for Emery’s side.

Rogers was on press duty ahead of Villa’s latest meeting with the French champions, as he discussed the recent rise for the Midlands club.

“Obviously it's been a surreal upcoming for the club and kind of accelerated where we wanted to get to,” he said.

“Probably quicker than anyone anticipated, but at the same time we know we're good enough. We believe in our group, we believe in the manager and the coaching staff. We're here for a reason.

“We deserve to be here. We've taken on any battle and opportunity that we've had in front of us this season, especially in this competition. We've won the games that we needed to be where we are. You can maybe look and think our name and club probably don't deserve to be here. But that's not how we look at it at all.

“We look at the players in the group we've got and we think we fully deserve to be here. We're fully competing and we want to keep going and keep pushing. It's exciting.”

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