Pearson: Keep Our Focus

18 Apr 2013
2 Minutes
With an eventful season just three games away from completion, City boss Nigel Pearson is hopeful that experiences like Tuesday night’s 3-2 win over Bolton can help fire his team towards promotion.

After a frustrating run, The Foxes roared back to winning ways with a fantastic performance against Bolton and an equally brilliant goal from Jeff Schlupp to climb back into the play-offs.

But next up is another crucial clash with Ian Holloway’s Crystal Palace, who despite being without a win in six, sit one place above City in the table, meaning a win could see Leicester leapfrog them with just two games remaining.

“I think some of our players will look back at this season in future years and they will be able to draw upon a lot of positive things,” Pearson told media ahead of the fixture.

“Whatever happens this season, the players have gone through a multitude of emotions, as everybody has. I know that there has been a lot of frustration for our fans but I think the players for the most part this season have gone about the games in the right way.

“There has been a few occasions where we’ve let ourselves down, but overall we are seeing a side which is developing very nicely in terms of not just the ability but the characters.

“We’ve got to make sure that our performance the other night (against Bolton) and a lot of the positives from the previous two games are taken forward into this next game.

“It’s going to be an interesting experience here on in. We’ve got three really tough games, the next one is against Palace but we’ve just got to try and keep our focus on ourselves.”

Despite having 30-goal striker Glenn Murray and Manchester United-bound Wilfried Zaha among their ranks, Palace have failed to score in seven and a half hours of football, but have still lost just twice at home.

However, City boss Pearson is well aware of Palace’s qualities and also the significance of a victory in terms of Leicester City’s season, having come through a tough test against Bolton on Tuesday.

On the Bolton result, Pearson added: “Was it a grind? Well I think it was a relief to win the game as we’d gone a while without winning, and it was a relief to get the three points.

“For me the situation hasn’t changed from then. The remaining games are all winnable for us if we play to our maximum. Clearly the rewards are there for us, and they are for the teams we’re playing too.

“I don’t view this next game any differently just because we won the other night. We’re in exactly the same position in the sense that we know these games are pivotal in our season.

“They (Crystal Palace) are experiencing quite a tough time themselves, but what remains the same is they know they’ve got the quality there. The form has eluded them of late and we are very award of that scenario.”