‘Be Desperate To Win’ - Rowett Ahead Of First Foxes Game

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‘Be Desperate To Win’ - Rowett Ahead Of First Foxes Game

Gary Rowett takes his Leicester City side to Stoke City this Saturday, looking to turn around the Club’s fortunes from the off.

2026-02-20T08:45+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

20 Feb, 2026

‘Be Desperate To Win’ - Rowett Ahead Of First Foxes Game

Gary Rowett takes his Leicester City side to Stoke City this Saturday, looking to turn around the Club’s fortunes from the off.

Sam Jones

2026-02-20T08:45+00:00

‘Be Desperate To Win’ - Rowett Ahead Of First Foxes Game

Gary Rowett takes his Leicester City side to Stoke City this Saturday, looking to turn around the Club’s fortunes from the off.

Sam Jones

2026-02-20T08:45+00:00

‘Be Desperate To Win’ - Rowett Ahead Of First Foxes Game

Gary Rowett takes his Leicester City side to Stoke City this Saturday, looking to turn around the Club’s fortunes from the off.

Sam Jones

2026-02-20T08:45+00:00

‘Be Desperate To Win’ - Rowett Ahead Of First Foxes Game

Gary Rowett takes his Leicester City side to Stoke City this Saturday, looking to turn around the Club’s fortunes from the off.

Sam Jones

2026-02-20T08:45+00:00

Arriving here with Leicester positioned inside the bottom three, there is plenty of work to be done in a short space of time, with a trip to the Potteries - a 12:30pm GMT kick-off at bet365 Stadium - his first challenge as City Manager since his appointment was confirmed on Wednesday.

Ahead of the Sky Bet Championship fixture, one of 14 he’ll take charge of during the remainder of 25/26, the former Birmingham City, and most recently Oxford United, manager held his first pre-match press conference at LCFC Training Ground.

‘A good opportunity’

Up against Aston Villa in the Premier League during his Leicester City playing days.

Carrying memories of Belvoir Drive and Filbert Street as a Foxes player, the sight of Seagrave and King Power Stadium is a far different setting for Rowett to lead the Club as a manager, though he is full concentrated on on-the-pitch matters between now and the end of the season, hoping to bring his Championship expertise to the table, while putting out a team that the supporters can get behind.

“As an ex-player of Leicester City 25 years ago, I’ve experienced a bit of the Club and seen what a very good club it is,” he commented, speaking to the media. “Of course, it has moved on with the training ground and the ground, but it felt like a really good opportunity to come in and try and help turn the season around.

“There’s 14 games and the remit is very clear until the end of the season: ‘can you go and change our fortunes?’. That’s the aim and that’s my focus completely, seeing things with fresh eyes and using my experience to help the players, because I’ve been in this position, both as a player and a manager, so I know what it feels like.

“I’ve been managing for many years now. I have the experience in this division. I’ve been at the top end and at the bottom end, so I don’t think anything is going to necessarily worry me or surprise me.

“I don’t think it’s going to be easy. Regardless of the size of the club, the Championship spits out reputations season after season. It’s not being blaize about that, it’s making sure we work incredibly hard and build that confidence back.

“We go and perform and win games of football. We might not do it every week but we keep learning and improving and we’ll move the table. It’s about looking up and not thinking about what teams around us are doing. There’s a lot of teams we can reel in and overtake.

“It’s a positive for the players to show what they are all about and give the fans something which perhaps has been missing this season, which is feeling that connection from the stadium and the fans to the pitch and having a team with a real spirit that is desperate to win games. That’s why I’ve been brought in, to find out how we best do that.

“Every manager can come in and talk about that, but we have to go and show how hard we want to work. It’s not going to be perfect; there will be moments when we need the fans to get behind us.

“I’m asking a lot there in some ways, but let’s show what it is to be a proud member of Leicester City Football Club, whether that’s a fan or a player, or a staff member. That’s what we’re all trying to achieve for these last games.”

‘Find the balance’

Overseeing training in Seagrave as he gets to know his squad.

Looking to end a run without a clean sheet which stretches back to September, Rowett outlined what he has been prioritising on the training pitch as he seeks to work with the players to produce the best possible outcomes come matchday.

“It’s finding that right balance,” the 51-year-old explained. “Particularly in the Championship, it’s a brutal league at times with the number of games and the intensity. What the team has found, sometimes it’s hard to find that stable platform to go and attack and not concede lots of chances on the back end of that.

“We have very good attacking players. Defend efficiently and consistently, which then in turn gives the attacking players a nice, strong platform to showcase their talents. It’s not always the best 11 players; it’s the synergy between the team and understanding this league.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect but you have to work incredibly hard to win games of football.

“There have quite a lot of injuries to key players at different times and that makes it difficult if you’re constantly having to change formation or the back four and you’re struggling to build partnerships up and different messages from different coaches, which is always a challenge.

“Where you are in the league creates a little bit of uncertainty at times. For me, it’s about calming that down and working so the players understand exactly what’s expecting of them and what we’re trying to achieve.

“Every team is different in how you want to coach them. The principles stay the same, but different teams have different skill sets. There’s a lot of energy and pace and good quality in forward areas, as well as different parts of the pitch.

“It comes down to that organisation and platform to give the team confidence to attack and keep attacking, because you’re not constantly having to defend and it becomes a basketball match. That’s the work we’ve done so far, a bit of clarity and a clear, direct message to the players about how we move forward.”

‘They’re a good side’

Former Coventry City manager Mark Robins is in charge of the Potters.

After a promising start to the campaign, our next opponents, one of Rowett's previous sides, sit mid-table under the stewardship of Mark Robins and Rowett is aware of what we will face come Saturday lunchtime.

“We cannot be detracted from the focus that we’re ready for Saturday and build on the work from the last couple of weeks,” he added. “Some of it have been really positive, not necessarily the results, but in parts of the performances.

“The challenge after 600 games as a manager is that you’ve got a lot of former clubs. I had a spell there and it didn’t quite work out for me or the club. It’s a good club with good people there.

“I know Mark [Robins] fairly well, I’ve managed against him many times. They will be incredibly organised. They’ve had their own injury issues. They are a good side; I saw that earlier in the season when they beat us when I was at Oxford.

“We respect every opponent, as everyone in this division can beat you, but for us it’s about focusing on what we want to do and trying to be as efficient as possible on matchday.”

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