Winning’s A Good Habit, Says Martin

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Winning’s A Good Habit, Says Martin

Russell Martin was both pleased with aspects of the performance and pointed to areas for improvement in our 2-1 pre-season victory at Bristol Rovers.

2026-07-15T09:00+01:00

by Sam Stevens

Published

5 Hours 11 Mins Ago

Winning’s A Good Habit, Says Martin

Russell Martin was both pleased with aspects of the performance and pointed to areas for improvement in our 2-1 pre-season victory at Bristol Rovers.

Sam Stevens

2026-07-15T09:00+01:00

Winning’s A Good Habit, Says Martin

Russell Martin was both pleased with aspects of the performance and pointed to areas for improvement in our 2-1 pre-season victory at Bristol Rovers.

Sam Stevens

2026-07-15T09:00+01:00

Winning’s A Good Habit, Says Martin

Russell Martin was both pleased with aspects of the performance and pointed to areas for improvement in our 2-1 pre-season victory at Bristol Rovers.

Sam Stevens

2026-07-15T09:00+01:00

Winning’s A Good Habit, Says Martin

Russell Martin was both pleased with aspects of the performance and pointed to areas for improvement in our 2-1 pre-season victory at Bristol Rovers.

Sam Stevens

2026-07-15T09:00+01:00

We were 2-1 winners over 120 minutes against Bristol Rovers in pre-season
Kirsten Otchere and Nathan Opoku scored for the Foxes at Memorial Stadium
Twenty-two players each got an hour of action in the game, our second friendly of the summer
Manager Russell Martin is encouraged by the early signs this summer

The new Leicester City Manager gave an hour of action to two different XI’s in Tuesday’s extended friendly at Memorial Stadium – as Kirsten Otchere and Nathan Opoku got our goals against Steve Evans’ Sky Bet League Two hosts.

Martin has been delighted with the application of his squad so far in pre-season, praising in particular the youngsters in the group and is encouraged to see the habit of winning beginning to develop.

“I’m really pleased we won the game,” he said at full-time in Bristol. “I saw so many good things and I saw lots of stuff we need to work on, which is what you expect.

“Bristol Rovers were great, they gave us a really tough game. Overall, for two and half weeks’ work, where the guys are at… we had to make some changes today because we’ve got a couple of guys we [for] precautionary [reasons] left at home, with Bobby [De Cordova-Reid] and Jake [Evans], I’m so pleased with the players and the way they’ve taken the work on.

“The fans who travelled all this way for a friendly, I’m really grateful. They were fantastic, so it’s a good evening’s work for us. They were really complimentary about the team and they’re really excited for the season, which we are.

“The better we do in pre-season, with performances and results of course, then the more excited people get. It’s about building connection early on between the team and the fans. We have to grow that because it can be really important for us this season, really important.

“The way the players are learning and their willingness to learn, it’s been amazing. There’s some stuff we worked on a lot in between Saturday and today – on the pitch a little bit, in the video room a lot.

“Lots of meetings, lots of unit meetings, team meetings, and they’ve taken it on board brilliantly. Even the young guys that came into the team today – Kevon, Tommy – really excellent. Really outstanding [with] a willingness to work, mentality and I enjoy a lot of it.”

Pointing to areas for improvement, there was a frustration with Ellis Harrison’s goal for Rovers, alongside praise for the mentality which is being built in the group.

“I’m annoyed with the goal we conceded, it’s a bit sloppy,” the Manager added. “We should have scored more, but also they caused us some problems with set-plays in particular.

“We have a lot to work on, like I’ve said, but the mentality is to try and develop and learn and also try and win, even in these games. It’s going to be important for us. I keep talking to the players about developing habits that are going to help us win and give us a foundation in performance and the game we want to play, ultimately to win games. Winning’s a good habit to have.”

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