Keep Building, Says Martin

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Keep Building, Says Martin

Russell Martin saw plenty of positives and plenty to work on during our 1-0 triumph over Northampton Town in the Carabao Cup.

2026-08-09T07:00+01:00

by Sam Jones

Published

16 Hours 20 Mins Ago

Keep Building, Says Martin

Russell Martin saw plenty of positives and plenty to work on during our 1-0 triumph over Northampton Town in the Carabao Cup.

Sam Jones

2026-08-09T07:00+01:00

Keep Building, Says Martin

Russell Martin saw plenty of positives and plenty to work on during our 1-0 triumph over Northampton Town in the Carabao Cup.

Sam Jones

2026-08-09T07:00+01:00

Keep Building, Says Martin

Russell Martin saw plenty of positives and plenty to work on during our 1-0 triumph over Northampton Town in the Carabao Cup.

Sam Jones

2026-08-09T07:00+01:00

Keep Building, Says Martin

Russell Martin saw plenty of positives and plenty to work on during our 1-0 triumph over Northampton Town in the Carabao Cup.

Sam Jones

2026-08-09T07:00+01:00

Leicester City defeated Northampton Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup
Russell Martin reflected on his first competitive game in charge of the Foxes
Caleb Okoli’s 16th-minute goal was the difference on Filbert Way

Centre-back Caleb Okoli scored the only goal of the game at King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon, sealing our route into the second round of the competition and ensuring Martin’s reign as Leicester City Manager began with a win on home soil.

“I’m very happy with the win and clean sheet and very happy with the dominance,” he reflected following full-time on Filbert Way. “We need to create more, for sure, but I enjoyed the energy in the stadium; the fans were great. I enjoyed the players, they ran so hard.

“For the first game, with so much change over the last six weeks, with so much going on and different information for the players, I thought they did great. They had a lot to work on today.

“But the commitment, the energy to regain and hunt the ball and to get back into shape quickly if we did lose it and couldn’t steal the ball... they were playing against a really well organised Northampton team. I’ve got a lot of time for Chris [Hogg], the manager, he’s a good coach and we knew it’d be tough. These games are not easy.”

As one of the fundamentals of the game, this summer’s work on set pieces has already paid dividends, providing our first goal of the season just 16 minutes into the 26/27 season, while Martin also analysed where the improvements lie ahead of our league campaign starting.

“There’s so much learning to come from it,” the 40-year-old continued. “We scored from a set piece and I’m really pleased because Kingy (Andy King) and Wealy (Tom Weal) have been working really hard on that. I’m delighted for all the players and them because they’ve put a lot of detail and effort into it.

“They’re going to be really important for us, set plays, because we’re going to have to be so strong with them defensively but a lot of the time they can be the difference, scoring the first goal, today it’s the winning goal.

Photo 1/25

Images from our Carabao Cup First Round victory over the Cobblers on Filbert Way.

“Wherever we go, whoever we’re against, we have to be front-footed and aggressive and I thought we were. And it's why we have so much of the ball, because we do regain it a lot.

“I think they had two shots in target. One was from very early on from a scary moment from us and the other one was from a very long way out and it went straight through to Jak’s (Jakub Stolarczyk’s) hands.

“We looked solid and we looked aggressive. With the ball, we were so dominant, but we have to find a way to create more, and we will, so it's exciting for me as a coach.”

Wanting to keep morale high and not dwell on the disappointment of recent seasons, Martin felt the energy from both the pitch and the stands, something he is keen to build up further.

“I spoke about the importance of having a clean slate," he added. “Me as well, and be surprised by people and be open to all people really doing well. I’ve watched this team a lot over the last two years.

“I hope there'll be some players that people feel differently about in a couple of weeks, or by the end of the season, certainly. It's my job to do that for the players. I just want to give the fans a team that they feel is running for them and working for them. I felt that today.

“I felt the players were running for us and they're working for us. It's really hot, by the way. Even with the ball, they're working so hard to try and be dominant and sometimes a little bit too early in the first half to try and force the play, because the lads want to generate some energy.

“When we’re a bit more patient in the second half, but quick, there were loads of openings and we have to make more of them. More of the game was spent in their half in the second half, which I liked, but too much in the middle third and our half in the first half. But [there’s] loads to work on and loads to be pleased with.

“If you'd have said six weeks ago when I walked in the door there’d be this much energy around the group, around the staff and the fans, who have been great when I’ve bumped into them, and that the team would look like this as the first starting point, I'd be really delighted.

“I’m proud of the players and now we have to keep building, and keep learning, and keep improving.”

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