Move On From Liverpool Swiftly, Says Albrighton

First Team
23 Dec 2021
3 Minutes
Leicester City must put Wednesday's Carabao Cup penalty shootout reverse at Liverpool behind them quickly amid a frantic festive fixture, says Marc Albrighton.

- Marc Albrighton speaks to LCFC TV after Wednesday's Carabao Cup exit
- Leicester City drew 3-3 with Liverpool at Anfield before a 5-4 defeat on penalties
- The Foxes winger had to fill in at right-back for City after an injury to Ricardo Pereira
- Albrighton says Leicester must find positives in the performance and move on

A brace from Jamie Vardy and James Maddison's fine effort put City 3-1 up at the end of the first half, which included Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain striking for the Reds. Jürgen Klopp's hosts, though, hit back through Diogo Jota and Takumi Minamino to send the quarter-finals tie to penalties.

Luke Thomas and Ryan Bertrand has their spot-kicks saved and, while Minamino blazed over, Jota stepped up to net the decisive penalty on sudden death. It was a cruel blow for the Foxes, who had battled valiantly and were seconds away from a first win at Anfield since 2000.

Albrighton, on the other hand, was introduced from the bench shortly before the interval in Merseyside after an injury to Ricardo Pereira.

"We started really well," Leicester's No.11 said. "In the first half, I thought we were brilliant, with the intensity and the tempo we played at. I thought we fully deserved the lead at half-time. The second half was always going to be difficult. We were under the cosh quite a lot, but I think we defended really well.

The lads are gutted in there, so it’s something we need to put behind us quickly. We’ve got a couple of great games coming up, exciting games that we hope to pick up some big points in, so we look forward to them. We go again.

Marc Albrighton LCFC TV

"We had bodies out there that couldn’t run towards the end and were giving everything. We’re disappointed to concede so late on. We’re devastated to lose in that manner.

"I think the gaffer set us up really well. With the two lads up front, with the raw pace both lads have got up there, it really hurt them. We looked a threat and we probably could have had a few more. Credit to us in the first half and then for our defending in the second half, but we just couldn’t see it through."

It looked like City had done just enough to secure their spot in the last four of the competition for the second time in three seasons, but Minamino's late strike denied them safe passage. Nevertheless, Albrighton can see positives to take, namely the Foxes' attacking play at such an iconic venue.

Manchester City are next up in the Premier League on Boxing Day (3pm GMT kick-off).

"We’ve seen it hundreds of times with Liverpool, especially here," he added. "They get so many late opportunities and late goals. We’ve got to be prepared to work for however long it may be, 94, 96 minutes. We’ve got to be concentrated for all that time.

"Unfortunately, the lad gets in and scores at the end and it’s disappointing on our part. There will not be many teams that come here and score three and should score more, so I think we can take a small bit of confidence, but ultimately, we’ve lost the tie. It’s disappointing.

"The lads are gutted in there, so it’s something we need to put behind us quickly. We’ve got a couple of great games coming up, exciting games that we hope to pick up some big points in, so we look forward to them. We go again."

On stepping into the breach left by Ricardo's exit, Albrighton continued: "I’m always ready to step in when there’s injuries. In terms of the squad, we’re quite strong in the right-back spot, but injuries and illness has hit us hard a little bit. We were caught a bit short.

"I think it was a nasty tackle on Ricky to start with that’s forced him off. Like I say, I’m ready to come in and play a part wherever needed."