Rowett: Get Up & Fight

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Rowett: Get Up & Fight

Manager Gary Rowett has called for fight and determination from his players following our 3-1 reverse to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

2026-03-15T09:00+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

15 Mar, 2026

Rowett: Get Up & Fight

Manager Gary Rowett has called for fight and determination from his players following our 3-1 reverse to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-03-15T09:00+00:00

Rowett: Get Up & Fight

Manager Gary Rowett has called for fight and determination from his players following our 3-1 reverse to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-03-15T09:00+00:00

Rowett: Get Up & Fight

Manager Gary Rowett has called for fight and determination from his players following our 3-1 reverse to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-03-15T09:00+00:00

Rowett: Get Up & Fight

Manager Gary Rowett has called for fight and determination from his players following our 3-1 reverse to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Sam Jones

2026-03-15T09:00+00:00

We were beaten 3-1 by Queens Park Rangers at King Power Stadium on Saturday
The Foxes led through Jordan James before the away side turned it around
Manager Gary Rowett believes we contributed to the visitors’ three goals
He has tasked the squad with showing more energy in our performances

Leicester made a positive start at King Power Stadium, leading on 14 minutes when Jordan James curled in the opener, but we wouldn’t go in at the break ahead following Harvey Vale’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

The visitors seized the initiative in the second half, with Ben Nelson’s own goal soon followed by a Ronnie Edwards header which sealed the points for Rangers. It leaves us 23rd in the Sky Bet Championship.

“We started quite well, we started quite brightly,” Rowett said post-match. “I think, within that period, we created some good moments. We created some good areas and some good wide play.

“I thought Stephy [Mavididi] looked really bright, JJ scores the goal, a really good moment to go ahead and maybe in that period I still felt it was a little bit too easy for QPR to get into our final third and create corners or crossing opportunities or throw-ins.

“But I didn't feel too vulnerable in those moments. I think perhaps, around the half an hour mark, we lacked a little bit of energy towards the end of the first half, we conceded a really, really poor goal.

“Maybe that knocks the stuffing out of players, I don't know, but it's a ball over the top that we should deal with. We should be dropping, we should be dealing with it. It’s one player against three of our defenders.

He runs in, obviously Jak [Stolarczyk] comes out to try and deal with it, nicks it around them and it's an easy goal. And at that point that feels like a giveaway lead.

“I spoke to the players at half-time, I wasn't too happy at half-time. I could have made several changes at half-time. I decided to give the players a little bit longer to see if they could do something about it.

“I think the easiest way to explain it is you cannot concede another two goals on the back of that first one, in the manner that we did.

“The first one's a breakaway. I think JJ misses the header or flicks the header without much purchase on it. They break away, cross the ball, the ball's going into Jak's hands. Ben, maybe he's not aware there's no attacker around and he slides in and he clips it over Jak.

“So to go 2-1 down at that point, it didn't feel as though it was necessarily the opposition that did that to us, we did it to ourselves, and then the third one was a set-piece, a free header, six yards out.

“You have to do the basics better. I think the players have embraced the basics in the games that we've had. They showed a little bit more fight, a little bit more determination today for an hour. We didn't show that, and that's why we lost the game.

“It's really simple. If we don't embrace that side of it, if we don't want to work hard to try and get a result, if we don't want to defend our box, we don't want to do the basics of the game defensively, it's always going to be difficult.”

It’s Watford away next up for City, with Rowett challenging his squad to step up to the challenge and put in a much improved showing at Vicarage Road.

“I spoke to them in there,” he added. “We’ve got a choice of what we do next. Do we all sit here and whinge about the fact that we’ve lost or blame people for moments in the game or do we pull together and actually embrace where we are and what we’re trying to do?

“I’ve got no magic wand, all I can do is come in and tell the players where I’m going wrong, work during the week to tell them what I think we’re missing in certain ways in certain games.

“What I might have to do is pick a team which I feel will actually do that more regularly. That’s the second game – the two losses have come off the back of a three-game week.

“We’ve tried to mix it up for the energy but that was another game where I felt the energy was just lacking so again that’s something we’ve got to look at.

“You get knocked down, you get up, you fight and I think we’ve got to show a little bit more fight in our performance.

“That’s not just the answer, but in general, just a little bit of extra determination, I think everyone in the stadium would feel, at the moment, that’s the bit that we haven’t done consistently well and that’s why we are where we are in the division.”

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