King: We Need To Build Momentum

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King: We Need To Build Momentum

With Emirates FA Cup responsibilities the focus this weekend, Andy King wants to see Leicester City emerge with a morale-boosting victory at Southampton to build upon over the coming weeks.

2026-02-13T17:00+00:00

by Sam Stevens

Published

13 Feb, 2026

King: We Need To Build Momentum

With Emirates FA Cup responsibilities the focus this weekend, Andy King wants to see Leicester City emerge with a morale-boosting victory at Southampton to build upon over the coming weeks.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-13T17:00+00:00

King: We Need To Build Momentum

With Emirates FA Cup responsibilities the focus this weekend, Andy King wants to see Leicester City emerge with a morale-boosting victory at Southampton to build upon over the coming weeks.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-13T17:00+00:00

King: We Need To Build Momentum

With Emirates FA Cup responsibilities the focus this weekend, Andy King wants to see Leicester City emerge with a morale-boosting victory at Southampton to build upon over the coming weeks.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-13T17:00+00:00

King: We Need To Build Momentum

With Emirates FA Cup responsibilities the focus this weekend, Andy King wants to see Leicester City emerge with a morale-boosting victory at Southampton to build upon over the coming weeks.

Sam Stevens

2026-02-13T17:00+00:00

Facing the same opposition in the Sky Bet Championship at King Power Stadium on Tuesday, a three-goal lead was overturned by the visitors, taking all three points back to the South Coast, leaving us 21st in the table.

It was a damaging evening for the Foxes, but after addressing it with the squad both immediately afterwards and in the week, King now wants them to focus on the future and on building momentum which will stand us in good stead this season. The fourth round tie is a 3pm GMT kick-off at St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday.

‘We need a win’

Without a victory since the 2-0 FA Cup success at League 2 outfit Cheltenham Town on 10 January, we go into the fixture having lost our last four Championship matches.

It’s form which needs repairing as soon as possible and, while points might not be up for grabs this weekend, King – who is overseeing the team as the search continues for a new Manager – believes a win can have several benefits.

“It'll be a little bit different, without the pressure of needing the three points for our league position,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“That doesn’t take anything away from it in terms of the importance of the game for me. We’ve not been on a good run of form and we need a win to try and change the momentum, or try and change the course of our season.

“We need a win to try and get the mood in the camp lifted. It will be nice for maybe a couple of other players to get minutes, to maybe show what they can do.

“Ultimately, I would imagine, for a lot of these players, with whoever is coming in [as Manager], whenever that may be, they will be looking at these games while I’m in charge to see who they want to play and who they may fancy and who they may not.

“Ultimately it’s a bit of a shop window for the lads for the new Manager while I’m in this situation to say: ‘Go on then, this is what I can do, and this is what I’m about moving forward’.”

‘All in this together’

Quizzed on the leadership within the group, King pointed to the experience of new signings Joe Aribo and Jamaal Lascelles, while also explaining that those qualities can come from anyone, regardless of their age or standing in the squad.

“We brought some leadership in with Joe and Jamaal,” he explained. “They’re experienced players, they know the league.

“They’ve been big characters at their previous clubs as well. I think it can be from within. It can also be players who are gaining more experience suddenly becoming a bigger presence in the changing room, feeling like they can speak a little bit more.

“It’s probably a little about me as the manager at the moment, giving players the freedom to express themselves.

“Where previously they may not have felt they had that capacity to speak, or they weren’t senior enough in the squad, for example, to show that skill. It’s about: listen, we’re all on a level playing field.

“Whether you’re 16 or 36, I don’t really care. If you’ve got something to say, you can say it. If you’ve got a valid point, then make it.

“It’s about: we’re all in this together, we’re all moving forward, we’re all trying to gain momentum to ultimately try and finish the season strongly.”

‘Build something’

Creating positive momentum to fuel the remainder of the campaign is among King’s priorities, with the First Team Coach saying he’ll make some changes to the XI, but with winning at the forefront of his mind.

He added: “Certainly, mentally, for the group maybe it’s nice for us to have a game where there’s not mad pressure on the amount of points that we get.

“But, like I say, when you’re playing for this Football Club, we demand of each other that we try and win every game. We’re not going to go down there with a ‘it’s a cup game’ mentality. We want to win and we need to win because of the situation we’re in.

“We need momentum, we need wins, and we want to try and build something going towards the end of the year.

"I still want to go down there and be strong. I don’t want to just roll out 11 changes and then it becomes a game that isn’t important to us. Like I keep saying, every game for this Football Club, while I’m in charge, will be important. There may be some players that we have to manage.

“Remember, this is a three-game week. Two of three, we’ve spent with 10 players, so it’s exerted a lot of energy from some of them. We’ll make changes to freshen it up, but it won’t be a whole fresh, new-look XI which people haven’t seen before.”

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