The Leicester City manager insists his side should not be referred to as a ‘Premier League team’ after they returned to the top of the Championship table on Sunday
Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca on the touchline during the Sky Bet Championship match at Ewood Park, Blackburn.
Leicester City may be leading the Championship but to declare them a Premier League club is very premature, manager Enzo Maresca insists.
City returned to the top of the table with victory over Blackburn Rovers on Sunday afternoon and the Lancashire club’s head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson said post-match that his side had faced a Premier League club and the likely champions of the division. Maresca was quick to disagree.
When Norwich manager David Wagner made a similar statement after City’s win at Carrow Road, Maresca said it was an attempt to put his players under pressure. Again, he has tried to play down their status and their promotion credentials.
Assessing the game, Tomasson said: “We are extremely disappointed with the result. It doesn’t reflect the game, I don’t think, the score at the end. We knew it was going to be tough against a Premier League side with lots of good players.
“We caused them plenty of problems in the first half with great football and great movements. We gave two soft goals away in the first half. In the second half, we were in the game, we were on top of the opponent, and we got a big chance to score a goal. I think they only had four shots on target.
“They get the penalty and I think it’s a soft penalty. You can give it but then you give 10 penalties in each game. Then the game was over.
“It was a great effort by the lads. We shouldn’t forget this is an excellent side, probably champions of this league, and a Premier League team.”
Maresca agreed that Blackburn provided his side with a very difficult test, the toughest they have faced so far this season, but said his team are very much a Championship side, rather than a Premier League one. He pointed to the number of players in his squad that were not playing in the top flight last term.
“I’m not agreed with him,” Maresca said. “I agree with him that they are very good, they played very good, the best team we have faced and I told him. But I don’t agree that we’re a Premier League team.
“Otherwise we would not be playing against Blackburn, but against one of the Premier League clubs. Leicester is a Championship club.
“We’ve had many players join us, like Mads (Hermansen), like Yunus (Akgun). Macca (Kasey McAteer) last year was in League Two, we played against Liverpool with a goalkeeper (Jakub Stolarczyk) who was in League Two last year.
Cesare Casadei born 2003, Callum (Doyle) born 2003, (Abdul) Fatawu born 2004. It’s easy to say Leicester is a Premier League club because for everyone it is easy to say. But you need to show that.”
Where do you think City will finish in the Championship this season? Let us know in the comments section below.
