Foster: Turn Adrenaline Into A Good Performance
The biggest game of the season so far dawns this weekend when City travel to face Tottenham Hotspur in the capital on Sunday afternoon.
Building up to the fixture, the First Team Assistant Manager spoke to the media about the challenge that Spurs pose, the potential nerves around the squad and what it means to go all the way in this competition…
Beating Tottenham
Leicester have only tasted victory once in seven meetings with the Lilywhites, that win coming two years ago in the FA Cup, but were beaten 1-0 in their most recent clash between the two sides.
Looking to improve on their performance at Brisbane Road last month, Foster understands what the Foxes must do to ensure their spot in the final two come May.
“Especially in the last game, it was the final details which let us down,” the Assistant Manager analysed. “We know we didn’t look at our best. For us, we know how we play; expansive football, so it’s making sure we are good with those details in the final third.
“We need to make sure we’re spot on with our gameplan. It’ll be a close game, there’s a lot of talent in both sides but I think for us, the learning points are to improve on those finer details.”
Nerves around the semi-final
A first semi-final for the women’s team can generate nerves within the City camp, but Foster is looking to turn this into a positive and has told the players to use that as fuel for a good performance.
Also noting the importance of the experienced heads in the team, she hopes they will be able to pass on wisdom to the younger individuals in order to remained focused on the job at hand.
“I’m sure there will be nerves on the day,” Foster admitted. “With the experience we’ve got in the squad, a lot of players have played in World Cups, so we’ll be reliant on those players helping out the younger ones.
“In terms of nerves, I think it’s good to have them. As long as we’re able to turn that into adrenaline and a good performance which I’m confident we will.
“We need to make sure out task is on the semi-final. We know what a win would get for us but first and foremost we need to focus on the 90 minutes that are ahead of us.”
Reaching this stage of the competition
To progress into the final four of the FA Cup shows the encouraging direction that Leicester are heading in, and while under no illusion what a win this Sunday could mean, Foster understands there is a semi-final to come first.
The last word was for the fans who are travelling in their numbers to north London to support the Foxes as they look to continue making history.
“We set out at the start of the season to get as far as we can in this competition, and we’ve done that,” Foster added. “There’s still one more step to go but the prospect of Wembley is great motivation.
“We’ve got a lot of our supporters travelling down so that will be really beneficial on the day and the added crowd attendance will have an effect, but it just means the players will have to rise to that.
“A lot of them that we have in the squad will be used to dealing with it, so I have no doubts they’ll be focused when the time comes.”