‘It’s About Winning Games’ – King Preparing For Birmingham Bout

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‘It’s About Winning Games’ – King Preparing For Birmingham Bout

Andy King has pointed to non-negotiables being met to give us the best chance of overcoming Birmingham City on Saturday.

2026-02-07T08:44+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

07 Feb, 2026

‘It’s About Winning Games’ – King Preparing For Birmingham Bout

Andy King has pointed to non-negotiables being met to give us the best chance of overcoming Birmingham City on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-02-07T08:44+00:00

‘It’s About Winning Games’ – King Preparing For Birmingham Bout

Andy King has pointed to non-negotiables being met to give us the best chance of overcoming Birmingham City on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-02-07T08:44+00:00

‘It’s About Winning Games’ – King Preparing For Birmingham Bout

Andy King has pointed to non-negotiables being met to give us the best chance of overcoming Birmingham City on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-02-07T08:44+00:00

‘It’s About Winning Games’ – King Preparing For Birmingham Bout

Andy King has pointed to non-negotiables being met to give us the best chance of overcoming Birmingham City on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-02-07T08:44+00:00

It’s a 3:01pm GMT kick-off at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park, with Leicester aiming to climb the Sky Bet Championship table.

Speaking before the decision of an Independent Commission on Thursday, which saw us immediately be deducted six points, leaving us 20th in the standings, the First Team Coach was in conversation with reporters at LCFC Training Ground to discuss the upcoming clash with the Blues.

‘About the performance’

On the touchline at King Power Stadium.

Although his first experience in the dugout ended in defeat to Charlton Athletic, King is looking forward to getting back out there after a productive week back in Seagrave, outlining what is required from the squad.

“I think it was a harsh lesson on Saturday,” he admitted. “You can prepare the team as much as you think and you can be in a really good place going into the game and then you have the red card, the injury and the missed penalty in the second half.

“It’s been a brilliant learning experience for me. I’ve taken a lot from it. At times I’ve really enjoyed it. The lads’ response towards me was really good. Ultimately, I’m stood there as the team loses 2-0 at home. That’s never going to be enjoyable for me.

“For everything I feel about the Club, as much as I may have enjoyed it, I’m never going to feel good as the team is losing. Putting that to bed now and moving on, this week’s preparation has been really good again, it’s gone well and the lads have been great. I’m not naïve enough to think you get points from a good training week.

“We’ve prepared the team well, they’re in a good place, but it’s about the performance on Saturday. It’s about winning games; this Football Club needs to be winning games.

“What I have enjoyed is setting some standards which I think this Football Club needs and putting in place what I think is right. You play once or twice a week, but the day-to-day standards and application can really be improved.

“That’s the standards which the lads can expect from each other, holding each other accountable for certain things, demanding the best from each other.

“I’m not talking about effort, the lads are trying with everything they’ve got, but can we build a culture and something they can believe in and be proud of themselves? That also has to go the other way and call out things you’re not happy with and be demanding more of each other.

“That doesn’t mean nailing people all the time, it’s that we’re going this way and you want to come with us, or you don’t, and being firm on things like that.”

‘Match the physicality’

Up against a familiar face.

Analysing our upcoming opponents, led by former City First Team Coach Chris Davies, the 43-year-old referenced their impressive recent results, defeating league leaders Coventry City as part of a six-game unbeaten run across all competitions since New Year’s Day.

“They are really strong,” King assessed. “Chris [Davies] has done a great job there. Coming up from League 1 last year, they stormed the league. I know him well, he was a coach here when I was a player and he’s very good.

“I’m not surprised how he’s gone on into management and how successful he’s been in his short managerial career. It’ll be a tough game. They’ve spent a lot of money over the summer and the January window.

“They’ve really added to the squad with players who are ready to go at this level. They are on a really impressive run of form and, at home, they are really strong. We know it’s going to be difficult away at Birmingham and [we need to] make sure we’re ready but we’ve we've also got to back ourselves as players in that dressing room.

“For any game I’ll be taking charge of, it’s the non-negotiables. Being aggressive and on the front foot. Are we running and tackling enough, are we sticking to the instructions? On the flip side of that, playing with freedom and enjoyment.

“Birmingham will come at us, they’ll be aggressive. They’ve got a clear style with what they’re doing. They have got some very good players. First and foremost, we have to match that physicality and work rate. Then, when we have the ball, what can we do to take the game to them? Hopefully our football will come through after that.

“I was actually really pleased with that in the second half against Charlton. Even though we were down to 10, we had a large number of shots. They need to be of better quality, we need to hit the target more often, but it was our second most amount of shots in a league game.”

‘A nice blend’

A leader at the back.

King was pleased with the Deadline Day business that we were able to conduct earlier this week, with four new additions all in line for debuts.

He added: “We have the new faces in who bring energy and can give us different qualities to what we’ve already got and thicken out the squad as well.

“Jamaal [Lascelles] is really important. We had an 18-year-old right-back in Bade [Aluko] playing centre-back last week. He did a brilliant job but it’s unnatural for him and it’s probably unfair to put him in that situation for more than an emergency. He’s a right-back who can play left-back but long-term he sees his future as a full-back and he has a bright future.

“Jamaal gives us that experience and know-how at the back of the pitch. He has that leadership. He’s already been really vocal in terms of what he expects of people and the demands of trying to drive the group. I think he’ll be hugely important. You’re not club captain at Newcastle for 10 years if you’re not a leader and a good personality.

“Joe Aribo has played in some massive games, a Nigeria international who has played and scored in a Europa League Final. I played with him, so I know everything about him in terms of character, personality and quality as well.

“He plays in a number of different positions. He played upfront in the Europa League Final, he can play in any of the midfield positions, he can play off the side. He’s got hundreds of games under his belt and knows the level.

Adding an experienced figure to our ranks.

“He was really keen to come and re-kickstart his career a little bit. He’s been at Southampton and it’s gone a little stale [for him]. He obviously knows about me and what I expect from players. That’s a really good fit for us as well.

“Divine [Mukasa] is someone who the Club have been watching for a while, from way before I came into this situation. Hugely talented, he’s played six times for Man City already, it’s not just a one-off sub appearance and Pep Guardiola doesn’t just hand out debuts to anyone.

“It’s not like he’ll just throw the kids out for a Carabao Cup game and see how it goes. You can already see the talent that he has. He’ll be really important for us and maybe someone who can unlock the door for us as a really creative player who can play off both feet.

“With Dujuan [Richards], he’s really exciting, with pace and power out wide, a bit of a hammer left foot. He can come on and change games, offering something a little bit different.

“The four of them mixed together, you’ve got that experience and that know-how and leadership and then that little bit of x-factor with the two young lads who have no fear and quality.

“I’m sure they will go on to have massive careers, but this is ultimately their first step in that ladder and first taste of senior football. They’ll have a nice blend with the experience as well.”

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