Evans: All About Concentration

First Team
09 Nov 2022
3 Minutes
Leicester City captain Jonny Evans felt his side’s focus enabled them to advance to the Carabao Cup Fourth Round with a 3-0 success over Newport County at King Power Stadium.

- Defender Jonny Evans speaks to LCFC TV to analyse Leicester City’s 3-0 Carabao Cup win against Newport County
- The centre-back made a return from a calf problem, playing 90 minutes
- Jamie Vardy scored twice after James Justin opened the scoring with a fine goal

James Justin’s first-half stunner put City in front before Jamie Vardy scored twice after the interval on his 400th appearance for the Club across all competitions.

The Northern Ireland international played his first match for a month, and was pleased with the way they acquitted themselves against the Welsh side.

“I think we started well, and you always give yourself a chance once you get the first goal,” he said. “Once that came, I think we were pretty comfortable.

“It was a formation that they play, and we expected to have a lot of the ball. It can always be tricky and we have to concentrate all game to make sure they can’t hit us on the break or set-plays.

“They have someone who can take a really long throw, and with throw-ins, we managed to limit that.”

Evans felt Justin’s goal arrived at a great time for the Foxes, who had plugged away in the first half but did not yet have the goal they desired before the No.2 curled home.

“I looked up at 44 minutes and thought it was a good time to score, coming in at half-time it changes everything, and you can come out the second half with a little bit of a different mindset,” said Evans. “I think throughout the game, it was all about concentration, and we did that really well.

“You get the goal and you can relax a bit more. It was all about trying to play our football and get the ball down to be a bit more patient. Then, hopefully the gaps will open up. We got a goal on the break which helps, and it’s a big strength of ours.”

Substitute Marc Albrighton earned praised from Evans after coming off the bench to tee up Vardy for his first goal, before the No.9 added a third of the night with a well-taken finish.

“Marc and Jamie are a great combination and have been over the years,” Evans said. “It was Marc’s cross, and it was a fantastic header. You’d expect that from Jamie. It’s a fantastic header, it’s a difficult thing to do but he always makes it look easy.”

It’s been something that at the start of the season we weren’t really doing (keeping clean sheets), but it’s something that we’ve solidified lately and I think you can see the consistency in our team and the way we’re playing. It’s great to see.

Jonny Evans LCFC TV

The centre-back recovered from a calf problem to make his first appearance since early October, helping Leicester to their sixth clean sheet in eight outings.

He said: “It’s always nice to get the minutes, 90 minutes. It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks for me, I just had to keep my head down and I’m delighted to see the team doing great. I’m happy that we’re looking like we’ve turned a corner and playing good football.

“It’s been something that, at the start of the season, we weren’t really doing (keeping clean sheets), but it’s something that we’ve solidified lately and I think you can see the consistency in our team and the way we’re playing. It’s great to see.”

Leicester’s final fixture before the winter break sees them travel to London Stadium to tackle West Ham United in the Premier League. Evans is hoping his team can continue their good form on the road.

“It’s a difficult place for us to go, but our last two away games, clean sheets and we’ve been quite good on the road and scored lots of goals,” he added. “Let’s hope Youri keeps scoring bangers like he does!

“We’ve been defending well, you can’t argue with that. Last two away games, they’ve been terrific team performances, and we’ve got to do that again against a good West Ham side.”