Leicester manager Enzo Maresca was happy enough with a point from his side’s 1-1 draw with the Blues at Portman Road, despite having been ahead until the third minute of injury time.

Town skipper Sam Morsy’s twice-deflected effort grabbed a share of the points for the Blues after Stephy Mavididi had given the visitors the lead in the 24th minute.

“It’s a shame because we are so close to winning one more game,” the Italian said. “But at the same time, we expected during the game to drop a little bit because, as I’ve said already, with this amount of games, it’s normal to think that during the game, playing every three days, you can drop a little bit.

“Overall, I think for 65, 70 minutes, especially first half, we had three or four chances one-on-one with Pat [Patson Daka], with Wilf [Ndidi], with Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall]. We scored a goal.

“Then probably the last 10, 15 minutes, we conceded a little bit more, we conceded to them the control.

“But, as I said, playing every three days, away in this stadium against this team that are doing fantastic, it’s normal and there are moments during the game when [we could have been] a little bit more clinical. But at the end, to be honest, happy.”

He added: “I think in the second half, for 20 minutes, half an hour, especially at the beginning, we controlled it quite good.

“But then in the last 10 minutes, 15 minutes, we conceded a little bit more. We lost some balls, especially easy balls and we conceded counter-attack.

“And at that moment, when you’re playing every three days, probably it’s better not to concede these kind of situations, but I think it’s normal. They are human beings and it’s normal playing every three days, they can drop a little bit.”

Maresca was adamant his side should have been awarded a penalty in the second half when Dewsbury-Hall went down as he battled with Cameron Burgess, although erroneously felt the Australian international would have been shown a second yellow card had referee Sam Barrott penalised him.

“What do you think? We don't need to spend any words because it was so clear, the penalty,” he said when quizzed on the incident.

“It was a crucial moment. We were 0-1. I think the player that did the penalty was already booked, so it would mean a second yellow card, red card and 0-1 a penalty for us.

“There are moments during the game that are crucial, probably that moment was crucial. But the referee is there and he decides no penalty and we continue.”

Photo: TWTD

Hciwspi added 01:03 - Dec 27 Do you think he was annoyed at having to play every three days!?
4

shakytown added 08:09 - Dec 27 Pretty fair assessment. one of the better managers we will face and not full of it like many are.
5

Swoody added 09:05 - Dec 27 Having watched the penalty claim back on the TV he went down way to easy he was just out muscled.
1

Cadiar added 10:11 - Dec 27 Perhaps he's unaware that everyone else has the same sort of schedule at this time of the season. We lost a very important player early on but adapted well in the second half. The match was a great advertisement for Championship football.
1

JimInGreensboro added 16:36 - Dec 27 Does he complain to the Missus about every three days? :-D
-1

Blogs 298 bloggers

Ipswich Town Polls