Leicester City’s desire to keep developing is the key to success, states Manager Enzo Maresca.
Following a busy run of fixtures, which has seen the Foxes come out the other side in robust fashion, City remain on top of the pile with 12 wins from their first 13 games of the 2023/24 campaign.
After six away wins on the spin, Leicester’s next outing sees them travel to the capital to face Queens Park Rangers, a side without a home win since February.
Pushing the players
Wout Faes in possession against the Black Cats in midweek.
With 36 points from a maximum 39 in the first stages of the season, it can be easy to forget the job done to turn the Club’s fortunes around in recent months. Keeping the pressure on is key if City hope to remain in top spot come the end of May.
When asked by the media about maintaining that winning momentum without becoming too relaxed, the Italian Manager responded by saying that each day in training is the chance to prepare for a new challenge.
“For me, it is quite simple,” Maresca voiced in Friday’s pre-match press conference. “We continue to push because even though we are winning games, tomorrow we might lose. So, we need to keep pushing ourselves and developing our style of play to improve.
“The only way to improve a team is to improve players, because they are the ones in the team. So, we look at how we can improve them. At this time, we are happy, but it’s for the fans, it’s for the players that we keep improving and focused on our goals.
“You cannot stop wanting to improve, because if you do, the gap quickly shrinks and there are plenty of other teams waiting to pounce to take top spot.”
Praise for Justin
Wheeling off in celebration after his first of the campaign.
The Foxes’ latest victory came midweek on home soil against Sunderland as a first-half header from James Justin guided City to their eighth consecutive Sky Bet Championship win.
While not featuring heavily for Leicester until an unfortunate injury to Callum Doyle, the former Manchester City coach labelled the English full-back a professional individual, and explained how every player has a part to play this season and must be ready when called upon.
He added: “After the Callum [Doyle] injury, he (Justin) has got more chances, but as I’ve said before, when I came to the training ground in June, I saw this player running around and I asked, ‘who is this guy?’ and it was JJ.
“At this moment, I realised something with him, that yes, you can be a good footballer, but it is your profession, you must work hard, and he is very special, which to me is the most important thing.”
The next challenge
Saturday’s hosts head into the game off the back of a 2-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion, which leaves the Hoops second bottom in the standings, with just two wins and eight points collected so far.
Based on the London club’s home record under Gareth Ainsworth, many would deem Leicester’s victory inevitable, but Maresca is wary of Saturday’s opposition, and knows that anything can happen in football.
“It is going to be a tricky game,” the Manager added. “After five defeats in a row for them, Leicester arrive, so it is a big game. It is a big game for us and a tough challenge which we must be careful about.
“As a group of players, after a few consecutive losses, the best thing that can happen is for you to face a top team where you can give it your all and you feel that pressure to get back to winning ways.
“It will be a tough game, we must be focused, and we must be ready, which can be tough after so many games recently; we are feeling tightness, and we need to be ready to keep this momentum going because three points against any team is a valuable three points.”
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