Rowett Points To Positives In Stoke Draw

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Rowett Points To Positives In Stoke Draw

Gary Rowett saw much to be enthused by in our second-half performance during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

2026-02-22T09:00+00:00

by Sam Stevens

Published

22 Feb, 2026

Rowett Points To Positives In Stoke Draw

Gary Rowett saw much to be enthused by in our second-half performance during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-22T09:00+00:00

Rowett Points To Positives In Stoke Draw

Gary Rowett saw much to be enthused by in our second-half performance during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-22T09:00+00:00

Rowett Points To Positives In Stoke Draw

Gary Rowett saw much to be enthused by in our second-half performance during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-22T09:00+00:00

Rowett Points To Positives In Stoke Draw

Gary Rowett saw much to be enthused by in our second-half performance during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-22T09:00+00:00

Gary Rowett responds to our 2-2 draw at Stoke City
We came from behind to lead at bet365 Stadium before a late equaliser for the Potters
Divine Mukasa and Harry Winks found the net, with Ben Wilmot pouncing twice for the home side
The new Manager was pleased with aspects of the performance, but knows the elements which still require work

Leicester City were behind early on at bet365 Stadium as Ben Wilmot’s header put the hosts in front, but after the break, Rowett’s men started to settle into the contest.

Into the second half, Divine Mukasa’s second goal for the Club got us back on level terms, before Harry Winks seemingly put us on course for victory, before Wilmot’s late equaliser.

Stephy Mavididi, Joe Aribo, Ben Nelson and Luke Thomas all went close – with the latter two hitting the woodwork – but it wasn’t to be for the Foxes in Staffordshire.

That being said, and despite City still sitting inside the Sky Bet Championship’s bottom three, the new Manager found positives, after we ended a run of five consecutive defeats in all competitions before his appointment.

“If we carry on playing like we did in the second half, it will turn,” Rowett told Foxes Hub. “You could see the players at the end, the lads are devastated they haven’t won the game.

“You want them to feel that, but you also want them to feel that we’ve done a lot of things quite well – and certainly a lot better.

“We’ve hit the woodwork twice, but also Stephy’s had a really, really good opportunity, and Joe Aribo had a really good opportunity too.

“Luke’s is probably the best of them all and I’m sure, when he watches it back, he’ll be disappointed that he hasn’t scored that with a free header.

“There’s a lot of things to like. The things that I know we’ve got to work on probably came out in this game, so it’s not really a surprise.

“Until we get three, four, five players back to give us those options squad-wise, off the bench, in different games, it’s very hard to change that in certain ways. I’ll certainly take the positives out of it and there was a lot to like about the second half.”

Rowett also addressed the fact that it took time for Leicester to get to grips with the game, as Stoke came out firing. City did, however, build a footing and start to dominate the chance creation as the game went on.

He added: “I think everyone watching the game would say that the first portion of the game wasn’t how we wanted to start the game, of course.

“When you concede in a way that has been a bit of an Achilles heel for the team in recent weeks and months, it rocked our confidence a little bit. It made us a little bit unsure about taking the ball and using the ball well.

“We looked a little bit edgy for that first period and, of course, they sense it, they smell it, and they try and put balls in the box to put us under pressure.

“We just about got through that and then, at 30 minutes, we started to settle down a little bit more. We started to get into the attacking third. We maybe didn’t connect with moments as well as we’d like to, but then the big thing at half-time was getting the message to the players.

“We just needed to be a little bit more dominant when we pressed and they played long, and we needed to make sure we dominated and won those duels so that it gave us a platform to attack again. We started to build in confidence.

“They were two very good goals. Divine, a lovely shot-turned-cross, in-swinging, finds the far corner, and then it’s good play [for Winks’ goal]. We’re patient around the edge of the box, Winsky steps forward and finishes it off.

“At that moment, there was probably only one [threatening Stoke] moment, and the one moment, they ended up scoring with – which I think is the way the team has gone in recent weeks. Like I said, [in] that situation, I suppose you have a choice.

“You have a choice as a team. A choice to do maybe what you did against Southampton, which is drop in, or inadvertently drop in, play with a bit of fear, let them put us under pressure for 10 or 15 minutes… but, actually, we went the other way.

“We created four amazing chances. I’m still stood here now wondering how we haven’t won the game.”

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