Davies Pleased With Cup Progression
- Leicester City beat MK Dons 3-0 at Stadium MK on Tuesday evening
- The Foxes are through to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup
- Youri Tielemans, Ayoze Pérez and Jamie Vardy scored the goals
- Assistant manager Chris Davies spoke to LCFC TV after the game
Two first-half goals from Youri Tielemans and Ayoze Pérez, followed by Jamie Vardy’s header the other side of the break, secured a safe passage into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup for the Foxes.
Speaking to LCFC TV following full-time on Tuesday evening, Davies felt it was the perfect way to get back on the pitch, following the month-long break from action due to the FIFA World Cup.
“A very pleasing result first and foremost,” he began. “Obviously the objective was to get through to the next round, which we did, but the performance overall was very good. A lot of the things that we were reinforcing to the lads before the game they did and we scored some outstanding goals, so I'm really pleased.
“Complacency is what we have to guard against in these types of games. It’s about never thinking it will be easy but trying to make it look easy and that’s about your attitude and the players were excellent in that respect.
“We played with a humility and a confidence. We looked comfortable, so we're really pleased. It brings us all back together and gives us a really good feeling and a clean sheet. It gives us some goals.”
Newcastle United are City’s first opponents back in the Premier League on 26 December, hosting the Magpies at King Power Stadium. A sixth win in seven games across all competitions, as well as eighth clean sheet in 10 against the Sky Bet League 1 side, keeps the good feeling around the group heading into that match.
Davies continued: “Hopefully tonight will help with the momentum moving into Boxing Day. Of course, it has no specific bearing on that result but it’s the best possible situation to be in.
“We did have half the squad with us in Abu Dhabi and a lot of the things that we’ve been emphasising in our training camp and back at Seagrave were some of the things that happened in the game tonight, in terms of the movements at the top of the pitch, the timing and combinations and the penetration of our play.
“So it was really nice to see those things come out in our game in the build-up to the goals so credit to the players for that. It’s back to our normal processes now. It’s all about the next game, Newcastle. We’ll be looking to recover from this game as well as we can and ultimately prepare and focus for a really big game for us on Boxing Day.”
Academy graduate Luke Thomas, singled out for praise following his performance, which included an assist for Pérez’s goal, was also chosen as the Foxes’ Man of the Match by supporters on Twitter.
The 37-year-old added on the left-back: “He played the first key pass for the first goal which was a brilliantly disguised pass. And then for Ayoze Pérez’s goal he played a neat ball over the top as an assist, which was excellent.
“He’s got great quality on his left foot and his job is to serve Harvey Barnes down the left and look to combine with him as much as possible. Ayoze was playing in slightly different No.8 position, so looking to combine with him as well.
“Luke’s involvement was really good and he’s growing all the time. He’s a very good player and he’s been with us for a few years now in the first team but we can see him improving and developing, which is nice to see.”