Maresca: Time To Be Calm
Defeat to Bristol City three days earlier, coupled with other results, leaves Leicester third in the table by a point. Now outside of the Sky Bet Championship’s top two for the first time since the opening weekend of the season, City head back home on Monday to face Norwich City (12:30pm BST kick-off).
The Robins reverse
A second-half strike from Anis Mehmeti separated the sides at Ashton Gate in what was another frustrating afternoon for the travelling Foxes. Opportunities were fashioned and not taken in the South West, but Maresca revealed he would feel more disheartened if his side failed to create those at all.
Speaking to the media on Friday, the 44-year-old commented: “It’s happened in our last four or five games that we create, and we miss chances. It happens but we have to go again. There is no time to think. You can be concerned or worried when you lose a game and don’t create, and the performance is not good.
“For sure we could do many things better, but they showed that the performance was there, given the number of chances that we created on the ball and off the ball. With the high pressing, we created four or five clear chances. But it’s football.
“In the first half, Jamie [Vardy] was twice one vs. one with the ‘keeper and tried to score. [In the] second half, he had two more chances, but this shows it can happen with Jamie, it can happen with [Patson] Daka, Kel (Kelechi Iheanacho), [Tom] Cannon.
“Jamie has scored so many goals with this Club in his life, given us so many points this season and probably could score more but it’s unfortunate. He has been an important part of the season and hopefully he can help us until the end.”
The run-in starts with Norwich
Ahead of returning to King Power Stadium for Monday’s early kick-off, Maresca shared his thoughts on what to expect from the Canaries, who currently sit within the play-off spots, and why all of the final eight fixtures carry the same level of significance at this stage.
“Any club is tough because every team is playing for some target,” the Italian explained. “I will start to watch Norwich now but it will be one more tough game. The only thing I said (to the players) is that we are not happy with the defeat because we are never happy with them.
“The reaction from them (the fans) is quite normal, you can understand that. Especially in this moment, we need them until the end. They have been brilliant. If they are nervous, the team can feel that and it’s not good for the players.
“We’re in the last eight games and every one is important. The pressure builds when you are at the end of the season and especially in this moment for us, when we drop points and then the table is so close, the pressure can grow a little bit, but it’s also normal.”