Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca has admitted that the pressure is beginning to mount on his side as they host sixth-place Norwich City on Easter Monday.
The Foxes face the Canaries in the Championship’s early kick-off needing to get back to winning ways having dropped to third position in the second tier. Maresca’s side have taken just four points from a possible 18 available in their last six Championship games, with the only win coming in a scrappy 1-0 win over mid-table Sunderland.
Despite that poor run of form, they remain just two points off Ipswich Town who sit at the top of the table currently and one point behind second-placed Leeds United in one of the closest battles at the top for years. The Foxes do, however, have a favourable run in, with their remaining games coming against the likes of Plymouth Argyle and Millwall.
The East-Midlands side are top of the league for big chances missed with 65 and have hit the woodwork an astonishing 18 times, according to Sofascore. Maresca has admitted it’s not good enough at the moment, something he emphasised in an interview on the club’s official website prior to the Norwich game.
“It’s happened in our last four or five games that we create, and we miss chances. It happens but we have to go again. There is no time to think. You can be concerned or worried when you lose a game and don’t create, and the performance is not good.”
Speaking on the Monday’s game the Italian added:
“Any club is tough because every team is playing for some target. I will start to watch Norwich now but it will be one more tough game. The only thing I said (to the players) is that we are not happy with the defeat because we are never happy with them.
“The reaction from them (the fans) is quite normal, you can understand that. Especially in this moment, we need them until the end. They have been brilliant. If they are nervous, the team can feel that and it’s not good for the players.
“We’re in the last eight games and every one is important. The pressure builds when you are at the end of the season and especially in this moment for us, when we drop points and then the table is so close, the pressure can grow a little bit, but it’s also normal.”
Italian Maresca will be hoping his side can return to winning ways against the Canaries, before two crunch games across the course of the next few days where they face Birmingham City and Millwall. Those two teams are fighting the drop but Leicester will be expected to win those sorts of matches if they’re realistic about an immediate return to the Premier League without worrying about the play-offs.
Writer’s View
Not long ago Leicester were at the top of the table in the second tier and looked to be cruising to the title but after a few average games, they’ve been reeled back in by Ipswich Town and Leeds United.
The form of the current top two won’t make it easy for the Foxes to re-enter the automatics but belief will still be high in the group that they can achieve it. This could just be a blip in form and based on the squad, they arguably should be in the Premier League next season.
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