‘A Challenge Every Week’ – Cifuentes Speaks Pre-Bristol City

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‘A Challenge Every Week’ – Cifuentes Speaks Pre-Bristol City

We’re due at Bristol City on Wednesday night as Leicester City look to make it back-to-back wins and Manager Martí Cifuentes is eager to see more of the same.

2025-12-10T09:00+00:00

by Sam Stevens

Published

10 Dec, 2025

‘A Challenge Every Week’ – Cifuentes Speaks Pre-Bristol City

We’re due at Bristol City on Wednesday night as Leicester City look to make it back-to-back wins and Manager Martí Cifuentes is eager to see more of the same.

Sam Stevens

2025-12-10T09:00+00:00

‘A Challenge Every Week’ – Cifuentes Speaks Pre-Bristol City

We’re due at Bristol City on Wednesday night as Leicester City look to make it back-to-back wins and Manager Martí Cifuentes is eager to see more of the same.

Sam Stevens

2025-12-10T09:00+00:00

‘A Challenge Every Week’ – Cifuentes Speaks Pre-Bristol City

We’re due at Bristol City on Wednesday night as Leicester City look to make it back-to-back wins and Manager Martí Cifuentes is eager to see more of the same.

Sam Stevens

2025-12-10T09:00+00:00

‘A Challenge Every Week’ – Cifuentes Speaks Pre-Bristol City

We’re due at Bristol City on Wednesday night as Leicester City look to make it back-to-back wins and Manager Martí Cifuentes is eager to see more of the same.

Sam Stevens

2025-12-10T09:00+00:00

It was a dominant first-half performance from the Foxes at Derby County at the weekend, with goals from Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Oliver Skipp and Jordan James seeing us three goals to the good at the interval.

Jordan Ayew also had a goal disallowed at Pride Park as City showcased the very best of their attacking potential, before digging in to hold back a Derby comeback in the second half, despite Sondre Langås getting one back.

Ahead of Wednesday’s test at Ashton Gate, a 7:45pm GMT kick-off, the Manager reflected on that Rams success, before also discussing the youth emerging through the squad and Jordan James’ form.

‘Every team is well coached’

Building on the success at Derby, embracing the pressure, and accepting that different scenarios in games require different attributes was all on the agenda for Cifuentes as he previewed this next assignment in Bristol.

“The first half [at Derby] was very good,” he said. “Perhaps we could have scored more goals. That’s a lot to say after being 3-0 up at half-time against a good team.

“It’s easy for me to sit here after a win like this, and after a first half like this, to say that’s exactly what we want. Football is a challenge every week.

“We’re going to play every game against teams that are well coached and well prepared. I understand that we always want to perform at this level.

“I think the second half shows that to win games in this league, you need to always go through different moments. Hopefully we can play 90 minutes at the level of the first half.

“I said from day one that Leicester is a big club. The expectations must be top and I’m happy about having this kind of pressure and this kind of expectation.

“It would be sad to sit here and be at a club that has no expectations. It’s never about me, it’s about the Club. I have a task.

“I know that the task at the moment perhaps is not the easiest. It can be difficult sometimes, but I know what we’re trying to build. Credit to the players. At the end, it’s always about them. We’re here to try and help them.”

‘It’s a process with young players’

There were seven players from the Club’s Academy involved at Pride Park, but Cifuentes is eager to stress it’s not merely forced by injuries, but the result of their progress.

“I’ve been talking about [the fact that] sometimes it’s a process with the young players,” he added. “They are doing so well, they are growing.

“For Bade [Aluko], his first game as a starter for the Club was not easy. That’s why I wanted to give him, as soon as possible, some minutes, so I’m happy that he could come contribute.

“Everybody, all of them, are doing well. I’m sure I said from day one that Louis [Page] will be an important player for this Club. As will Bade, as will Jeremy [Monga], as will Jake [Evans], as will Ben [Nelson], they are getting these opportunities.

“It’s not just about the injuries, it’s about them pushing to be ready to contribute always.”

‘James is the kind of personality we want’

James was Leicester’s third goalscorer on Saturday, netting his fifth goal in 17 appearances since joining on loan – and Cifuentes is pleased with his contribution.

“He's a fantastic guy for us, a fantastic addition,” the former QPR managed explained. “He’s got a great personality. He’s young but he’s really shown that he cares, that he wants to play in Leicester.

“You can see on the pitch, his energy, and he’s the same off the pitch as well. He’s a good guy, his feet are on the ground, he’s working hard every day.

“He’s the kind of personality that we really want to have in the Club and I think the group is really happy to have him here.

“He’s exactly the kind of No.8 that we wanted because he can do the box-to-box job, he’s good on the ball, he can break lines, he can get into the second lines.

“Defensively, his work rate is very high. We have been using him sometimes as a No.10 because of the injuries to both Aaron [Ramsey] and Bobby, but we know when he plays as a No.8, he’s an important player for us.

“I think Louis as well has the potential to be a similar player in terms of most of those skills, those characteristics, but I’m happy for him. Aaron, hopefully, will be back soon and he’ll help us a lot as well. Definitely he’s been a good addition for us.”

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