Leicester City manager Marti Cifuentes has admitted he has ‘mixed feelings’ following a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion last night.
The Foxes travelled the short distance to the West Midlands knowing that three points would see them move into the automatic promotion places – at least temporarily. They entered the game on the back of successive draws, having picked up a point against Oxford United and Coventry City.
The game didn’t start well for the visitors, with West Brom taking an early lead after a stunning solo run from Samuel Iling-Junior. From there, Leicester enjoyed the lions share of possession but had just one shot on target before Baggies defender Nat Phillips put the ball in his own net in added time to hand Cifuentes’ team a point.
Cifuentes Disappointed With Lack Of Chances
Following the game, the former Queens Park Rangers boss admitted that the lack of creativity was a concern. Speaking to official club media, he said:
“It’s mixed feelings. From one side, we started the game really well. I would say the first half was quite strong but, unfortunately, we conceded a goal in a high-press situation that we didn’t deal well enough and then we were the chasing the whole game.
“For some moments, we were starting to get there, but perhaps the more the game went, it was more emotional, definitely in the last minutes when we were chasing a result.
“At the end, I really value the effort of the guys, I really value the bench impact, the fact that we got something from a difficult scenario and we showed the guys are fighting really hard to get the results.
“When I arrived here, I learned pretty quick with some former players about the identity of the Club, that ‘Foxes Never Quit’, and I think that should always be there. The team is definitely showing this ambition.”
Despite that, Cifuentes admitted he is satisfied with parts of their performance:
“I’m especially satisfied for many minutes of the first half. I think we played really well. It was not easy in the first minutes because every time we beat the block, the high-press, it was constant interruptions, contestant free-kicks, so slowed down our tempo.”
Writer’s View
West Brom is a tough place to visit, so to earn a point is a respectable result. For Leicester though, it does seem like a missed opportunity to keep the pressure on the likes of Middlesbrough and Stoke City and they could find a gap opening by the end of today. They were below par at times last night but still came away with something. Still, the Foxes have lost just once all season and will feel that they’ve put themselves in a really good position to kick on.
