We Have To Show Fight, Says Rowett

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We Have To Show Fight, Says Rowett

We did not show the performance required in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Norwich City, Gary Rowett said post-match.

2026-03-01T08:40+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

01 Mar, 2026

We Have To Show Fight, Says Rowett

We did not show the performance required in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Norwich City, Gary Rowett said post-match.

Sam Jones

2026-03-01T08:40+00:00

We Have To Show Fight, Says Rowett

We did not show the performance required in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Norwich City, Gary Rowett said post-match.

Sam Jones

2026-03-01T08:40+00:00

We Have To Show Fight, Says Rowett

We did not show the performance required in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Norwich City, Gary Rowett said post-match.

Sam Jones

2026-03-01T08:40+00:00

We Have To Show Fight, Says Rowett

We did not show the performance required in Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Norwich City, Gary Rowett said post-match.

Sam Jones

2026-03-01T08:40+00:00

We fell to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Norwich City on Saturday
Manager Gary Rowett gave his assessment of the home reverse
It leaves us 22nd in the Sky Bet Championship with 11 games to play

Anis Ben Slimane and Ali Ahmed scored the goals for the Canaries at King Power Stadium, with those two second-half strikes seeing Leicester City remain inside the Sky Bet Championship bottom three.

Rowett was frustrated with the manner of the defeat, following two draws on the road, feeling his side got into good positions but did not possess the instinct required to trouble the scoresheet.

“It was a really disappointing performance at home,” our Manager commented following full-time. “I felt on the back of the two games where we’ve worked incredibly hard and showed that real fight as a team to make sure we work as hard off the ball as we do on the ball, created some good moments in the first two games in different ways, today’s game just felt flat right from the start.

"I’d expect us to play with more energy. It was quite hard to change anything or do anything with the momentum. Is that nervousness and games without winning at home, or playing safe and not want to make a mistake?

“Ultimately, that’s not the way to lose a game a football. You have to go out all guns blazing and doing everything you can. The way we went about the game was disappointing.

“We turned the ball over cheaply far too many times [in the] first half. Our play was a little bit too slow, we didn’t break lines quickly enough, we didn’t run forward with enough energy and I think that was the biggest challenge.

“The two goals came from kind of nothing. The first one, we get in a good defensive position and allow the player to come inside around the edge of the box and get a free shot. I don’t expect that to happen.

“The second one, we’ve got lots of bodies in the box, we allow a two-v-one down the side and the cross comes in and we have a really easy opportunity to clear it, don’t get a good connection, and that keeps the ball alive for them.

“That happened too many times, we needed to dominate some of those actions and we didn’t do that with any real conviction. It gives them an opportunity to get on the end of something and they did for the two goals. That wasn’t an acceptable way to perform at home.”

With 11 games to go, Rowett is placing an importance on upcoming home fixtures, with two of our next three on Filbert Way, also referencing the need to keep things tighter at the back.

“After Ipswich, we’ve got a run of a number of home games in comparison to away games up until quite close to the end of the season,” the 51-year-old explained. “You have to pick points up at home, it’s as simple as that. We have to dominate the game more.

“Most importantly, you can’t make silly mistakes to allow the opposition to go 1-0, 2-0 up. You have to do the basics of the game well. That’s 29 games without a clean sheet, which would hurt me personally as a player.

“That would make me want to do something about it. I certainly want to see a little bit more aggression and fight in our performance, and of course quality as well.

“We have to show a lot of fight and recognise the position that we’re in and start putting performances in with a lot of urgency than that.”

A late change between the sticks saw Asmir Begovic replaced by Jakub Stolarczyk, while Caleb Okoli had to be withdrawn in the second half, though his replacement, Jamaal Lascelles, was making his return from injury, as was Jordan James.

“Asmir going down in the warm-up doesn’t help,” he told us. “It changes your preparation. Jakub made a few good saves today. He’s been waiting for an opportunity. Caleb going down injured [in the] second half, we could do without losing players at the moment, just as we get a few back.

“JJ came on, looked bright, got into some good positions. Jamaal the same, got through the game fine. Sometimes it’s difficult coming off the bench but he looked quite comfortable. We need players back, but the players we have on the pitch need to perform with a lot more energy.”

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