Enzo Maresca proud of Leicester’s record-equalling start

Posted Thursday, October 05, 2023 by PA

Enzo Maresca praised his Leicester players after a 3-0 home win over Preston saw the Foxes equal the best start to a Championship season.

Two goals from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall either side of a Kelechi Iheanacho strike were enough to see the Foxes back to the Championship summit.

The victory lifted them above Ipswich, who had moved a point clear on Tuesday by beating Hull, and matched Sheffield United’s 27-point haul from the first 10 games of the 2005-06 campaign.

Maresca said: “To be honest I am happy. I just said to the players that what you have done today is something that is not normal.

“And not only because your club is Leicester have you achieved something like this – there are other clubs in the Championship who are important like us but they struggle.

“So it is something important, but it is early days. We have won nine out of 10, we are very happy with that, but now in less than 72 hours we have one more game and we need to be focused on that.”

Midfielder Dewsbury-Hall broke the deadlock on the hour with substitute Iheanacho doubling the lead 16 minutes later.

Dewsbury-Hall made it 3-0 in the 90th minute on the rebound after Iheanacho had seen a shot parried.

Maresca added: “I am especially happy for Kiernan because he is improving in decision-making – in the choice. If you remember – in the first game he was shooting from his house, from everywhere. Now on the edge of the box he is patient.”

Preston had a great chance to open the scoring late in the first half when Duane Holmes fired wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.

North End also had a late goal from substitute Ben Woodburn ruled out for a foul on Wout Faes in the build-up.

Preston’s defeat followed a 4-0 home loss to West Brom on Saturday, but manager Ryan Lowe made it clear he was pleased with his players.

He said: “It was definitely harsh. I thought we were fantastic for 50-odd minutes until they scored the first goal, which was disappointing on our behalf – we go to ground when we could probably have intercepted it.

“But Leicester have some quality, they are different class, and we nullified that early on – we caught them out a little bit.

“We didn’t have much possession but I can’t fault the effort. Late on we were out on our feet a little bit, which was expected.

“We had the best chance first-half – Duane’s had a fantastic opportunity and it’s gone just beyond the post – but they are a Premier League team in the Championship.

“They have got a player in Dewsbury-Hall who shouldn’t be playing at this level.

“But we didn’t fear them. We respected them. They are normal human beings but they have got different qualities to most in the Championship.”