We’re Heading In The Right Direction, Says Martin

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We’re Heading In The Right Direction, Says Martin

Manager Russell Martin saw ‘real positives’ in the performance displayed by his side during the 2-1 victory over Walsall.

2026-11-11T09:00+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

11 Nov, 2026

We’re Heading In The Right Direction, Says Martin

Manager Russell Martin saw ‘real positives’ in the performance displayed by his side during the 2-1 victory over Walsall.

Sam Jones

2026-11-11T09:00+00:00

We’re Heading In The Right Direction, Says Martin

Manager Russell Martin saw ‘real positives’ in the performance displayed by his side during the 2-1 victory over Walsall.

Sam Jones

2026-11-11T09:00+00:00

We’re Heading In The Right Direction, Says Martin

Manager Russell Martin saw ‘real positives’ in the performance displayed by his side during the 2-1 victory over Walsall.

Sam Jones

2026-11-11T09:00+00:00

We’re Heading In The Right Direction, Says Martin

Manager Russell Martin saw ‘real positives’ in the performance displayed by his side during the 2-1 victory over Walsall.

Sam Jones

2026-11-11T09:00+00:00

We beat Walsall 2-1 in Tuesday night’s Jersey Mike’s Trophy decider
John Lundstram and Will Smallbone scored our goals on Filbert Way
Russell Martin assessed what he saw and the development of the team

Recovering from going a goal down early on in the game, when Andrew Dallas punished a mistake at the back, the Foxes sealed a safe passage into the last-32 of the Jersey Mike’s Trophy with success over the Sky Bet League 2 side at King Power Stadium.

John Lundstram scored an impressive overhead kick from a Will Smallbone corner before Smallbone himself finished off a free-flowing team move with a controlled volley which saw us into the lead before the break.

Despite second-half opportunities to further increase our advantage, two goals were enough to qualify from Southern Group B as runners-up.

“We didn’t start the game well, so I was frustrated with that,” our Manager admitted following full-time on Tuesday night. “But then the energy after that was great and we scored from a set piece again.

“That’s Kingy’s (Andy King’s) real hard work with the players so I’m pleased with that part of it. People did their jobs and we looked a threat from them all night. Then we scored a really brilliant goal. It was a top team move. My only frustration is that we should have scored a couple more goals.

“We limited them to very little, which I’m pleased with. We looked very solid defensively. I really liked the energy of the team, [with] a good mentality to hunt the ball and press to win the ball back and some really good moves as well, which should have ended up with a little bit more.

“There were some really good performances from guys that have not been out there consistently and are still building like Chappers (Conor Chaplin), Bade [Aluko], Will [Smallbone], Admir [Bristric] and Tommy Watson as well, so there are real positives.

Photo 1/29

Match imagery from our Jersey Mike's Trophy success against Walsall at King Power Stadium.

“I think there were a lot of good behaviours and good habits that are really important for us and we keep banging on about it to the players. There was lots of really good play with a high level of execution in what they did, apart from that last bit.

“We had a bit of a disappointment tonight by conceding so to respond in the way we did was brilliant. That’s been difficult for us before when we’ve done that.”

Reflecting on recent performances as a whole and looking ahead to the upcoming break from competitive action, Martin referenced the need to continue on the same path after an upturn in fortunes which leaves us four unbeaten across three competitions heading into the latest international window.

“I hope everyone feels a bit better about where the team is heading and how the team is growing and developing,” the 40-year-old added. “I’m really proud of the players and what they’ve done over this block of games.

“The start of it, against Peterborough, was tough. Even the Luton game we lost and the Stevenage game we drew, I feel like we should have had more from them and the performances warranted that. We’re definitely heading in the right direction.

“The players are developing real togetherness and hopefully the supporters are starting to feel that as well, because they’ve been great during this period of games when we needed them.

“Everyone feels good about what we’re doing, but everyone knows we have to get better and improve and keep growing and developing. We have a really important block of games coming up and it’s frustrating that the break has come when it has, because we’d have liked to have played.

“But it’s also a chance to refresh because there’s a lot of players who have played a lot of minutes for the first time in quite a while – Will Alves, Sammy Braybrooke, Kami Doyle. Hopefully we’ll come back with lots of energy from this little break and there will be a lot of hard work going into the training pitch. We need to come back really strong.”

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