Pearson: A Good Night’s Work

With two difficult home games to negotiate in the space of a few days, a win of any kind was always going to be pleasing for City manager Nigel Pearson on Tuesday night.

So when the Foxes boss emerged for his post-match press conference after Andy King’s goal and Kasper Schmeichel’s penalty save had secured three points over Brighton, he was predictably content with his side’s efforts.

With six wins from six home games and unbeaten in seven, the Foxes sit proudly at the top of the npower Championship.

“After the draw at Birmingham it was always going to be important to try to get maximum points tonight,” said the Foxes boss.

“Both our home games this week represent big tests for us – Brighton and Crystal Palace have both had good starts to the season so it’s pretty relentless this league. But the players have worked hard to get us into a position where we’re at the top, which is good for us all.

“I don’t think tonight we quite had the energy levels we’ve had for the majority of the season so far, but we managed the game better than we have others.

“Towards the end, when Brighton started to go a bit more direct and upped the tempo a bit, we were able to see the game through.”

No less important than King’s 10th-minute opener, the Welshman’s third goal of the season, was Schmeichel’s penalty save from Ashley Barnes early in the second half.

Awarded for a foul by Zak Whitbread on Will Buckley, the spot-kick was a game-defining moment that galvanised the hosts and sapped life out of Gus Poyet’s visitors.

“The penalty save was very important early in the second half,” Pearson admitted.

“I’ve not seen it again yet, but whether I think it was harsh or not, the assistant gave it straight away and Kasper made the save.

“I thought out of the two sides we looked more likely to win the game anyway.

“The important thing was that we saw it through. We knew it would be a tough game, but all in all it was a good night’s work for us.

“We’ve worked hard to get to the top and it means a lot to the players. They want to stay there.”