‘It Gives Us Momentum’ – Albrighton Looks To Tuesday’s Test
- Marc Albrighton previews Leicester City’s upcoming home clash with Swansea City
- The pair face off in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday evening (7:45pm kick-off)
- It comes just three days after the Foxes beat Birmingham City in the Emirates FA Cup
- Albrighton played 90 minutes in the cup success, assisting Jamie Vardy’s opener
The experienced campaigner played his part in the fourth-round Emirates FA Cup success at the weekend, setting up Jamie Vardy for the opener as Enzo Maresca’s side went on to score three goals in front of the Blue Army.
A first win in three leads the Foxes back into the Sky Bet Championship, with all focus turning towards Tuesday night’s meeting with Luke Williams’ Swans on Filbert Way and a chance to extend the lead at the top of the table to 10 points.
Albrighton commented ahead of the 7:45pm kick-off: “I think, no matter which competition, no matter what game we play, winning gives you a good feeling and momentum going into the next fixture. Obviously to get the three goals and push towards the end was big for us.
“We’ve failed to do that on a few occasions this season and we’ve been hanging on. Sometimes we’ve conceded and sometimes we’ve got away with it, so to go into the last five minutes three goals to the good was massive for us.
“It’s another tough test. No matter which team you come up against in this league, it’s always going to be a hard game. We’ve seen that over the course of this season already. Every fixture that we’ve had, we’ve been made to work for it.
“We’ve done really well so far to come out on top in the majority of those games so hopefully we can take confidence from the game and get the result.”
With just over 72 hours between fixtures, it's a part of the schedule that the squad have become accustomed to, Albrighton believes. And with 10 changes to the starting XI against Birmingham, several players will be fresh and ready for Swansea.
“We’re used to it now,” the winger explained. “We’ve done it a lot this season. We’ve also done it previously whether it be in Europe or in this league. The Christmas period was obviously a real test for us.
“We’ve got a few players missing at the minute, whether that’s at AFCON or through injury, so that takes its toll, but we’ve got a strong enough squad to be able to deal with such a quick turnaround.”
Second-Half Improvement Sees City Through
Jamie Vardy, Yunus Akgün and Dennis Praet all net after the break in an Emirates FA Cup win over Birmingham City.
Putting the frustrations of Monday night’s draw with Ipswich Town behind the team was high on the agenda, with those demons banished following a convincing second-half display against Blues.
“We want to get back to winning ways in the league, that goes without saying,” the 34-year-old added. “The draw against Ipswich, with the position that we got ourselves in, was obviously disappointing. It’s difficult to take when you concede so late.
“But if we put it into context, we’re the team in the lead and I’m sure they are the team who would have wanted to come out on top. They are chasing us down and we didn’t lose the game and got a solid point which was important.”
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