Enzo Maresca happy as demand for more goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall pays off

Posted Sunday, August 06, 2023 by PA

Enzo Maresca says he has urged Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to score more goals after he netted twice in Leicester’s comeback win over Coventry in his first Sky Bet Championship game in charge.

The former Manchester City coach was satisfied with the result, which saw Dewsbury-Hall score twice in 10 minutes late on to seal victory after Coventry captain Kyle McFadzean had put Mark Robins’ side ahead early in the second half.

Maresca revealed he had urged Dewsbury-Hall to get into the opponents’ area more.

The 24-year-old midfielder only scored twice as the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League last season.

The result was a headed equaliser and a spectacular winner with three minutes to go.

Maresca said: “At the beginning when I came in, I checked the numbers of the players and I told him he has better quality to be able to score more and make more assists.

“The only way to do it is to arrive more often in the box. Kiernan scored here because he was there in the area.

“We are happy because he scored and we won and that’s the most important thing.”

Maresca also pointed to the fact that his team maintained momentum until the latter stages, despite Coventry’s constant threat.

The Italian coach said: “I told the players that Coventry was a team that almost won promotion in May. We needed to be mentally strong.

“So to be 1-0 down and then win the game, the guys showed a lot of great effort.

“We conceded a lot of goals from set pieces last season, I knew this before I came. We conceded again here and it was not easy to come back for us.”

Asked if he was concerned about the number of chances Coventry created, Maresca responded: ‘I’m always concerned. The feeling of winning was unbelievable, but we have to improve.”

Coventry manager Mark Robins predicted that Dewsbury-Hall will will be one of the top players in the Championship this season.

But he admitted there was a feeling of what might have been had his side taken more than one chance after creating so many openings.

Robins said: “If we’d taken one more, we might have won by two or three. We’re trying to be on the front foot and carrying a threat is something that’s really important to us.

“We had chances to score, but such is life, we’ve not taken them.

“I think Dewsbury-Hall is going to be one of the best players at this level. Someone also told me Leicester had £100million worth of talent on the bench – which is nice.

“It’s always disappointing to lose especially from a winning position but when you look at the quality of Leicester, there’s a lot of Manchester City in the movements.”