Enzo Maresca has called on Leicester to be more clinical

Posted Sunday, September 03, 2023 by PA

Enzo Maresca felt his Leicester side should have been more clinical after surrendering their 100 per cent start to the season when going down 1-0 to Hull at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes had 21 shots on goal, but still suffered their first defeat of the season.

A 15th-minute goal from Liam Delap proved enough to give Liam Rosenior’s team victory.

Maresca felt Leicester should have made more of the game, but in the end, they only had one shot on target.

However, he said there was “no drama” following a result which saw Leicester knocked off the top of the table.

“We cannot think we’re not going to lose a single game this season,” said Maresca. “We’ve played seven matches so far, and you’d said to me at the start that we’re going to win six and lose one, I’d have accepted it.

“But we need to judge results, we probably deserved something more but it didn’t happen. So we keep going, it’s not a drama.

“We probably needed to be a bit more clinical when you shoot more than 20 times. But we started in the right way before they scored.

“Then we lost a little bit of control. In the second half, we were aggressive and in control. But sometimes this can happen. In the second half, there is nothing to say other then we needed to score.”

Hull manager Liam Rosenior said he would still have been “proud” of his side’s display even if they had conceded late on.

He said: “We came here with bravery, we were fearless and we wanted to play our way. We changed our press because Leicester are an outstanding team. But at the end, we were throwing our bodies on the line. We didn’t want Leicester to have any rhythm.”

Rosenior highlighted the performance of defender Alfie Jones as Hull frustrated Leicester.

“For a centre half to be asked to play against Kelechi Iheanacho one for one on the back line, he was immense, I don’t normally single out players, but his performance was everything I want from a centre half,” said the Hull manager.

“He was magnificent and it was a joy to watch him.”

But Rosenior also praised Delap for his second goal of the season.

He added: “He’s scaring the life out of defenders at the moment, I said it when we signed him, I think he suits this style of play.

“For me, he’s enjoying it here, he’s got so much work to do and there’s so much room for improvement in his game. But his physical attributes and his technical stuff is absolutely top. I’m so delighted he’s with us.

“I think we earned the result. When you come away from home, you don’t expect to get the rub of the green, but I felt a lot more decisions went Leicester’s way than maybe they should’ve done.

“We were better here with the ball, this result leaves us with in a really good place, we have aims and ambitions this season, but there’s a long way to go.”