Leicester City manager Willie Kirk says that he thinks he knows what to expect from latest opponents Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend as his side look to begin ‘The Great Escape’.
It has been anything but the ideal season for Leicester City so far. With zero points in the league, just two goals scored and the sacking of manager Lydia Bedford back in November, things could’t have gone much worse for The Foxes. However, following several postponements, the Midlands club have had a much lengthier winter break than most, something that new manager Kirk has seen as a big positive for his side.
“We’ve basically used the time to have a real focus on us and have a real focus on what we do in games,” Kirk said when speaking in a recent Leicester City press conference. “We ran through our principles, we’ve been really detailed on that now and I think it gave everyone a bit more clarity on what we’re trying to do and why we’re trying to do that.”
That extra clarity looks to be paying dividends as 2023 got off to the best possible start for Kirk and his players. In their first competitive game back after the break, Leicester City ran out 5-0 winners against Barclays Women’s Championship side Sunderland in the FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup, a result that Kirk credits to the work put in during the recess.
He said “I think from the way we finished the game really strongly from a physical level, it showed you how hard they’ve been working over the break.”
It would take an incredible upturn in results for Leicester City to be able to maintain their Barclays Women’s Super League status beyond this year. The East Midlands club’s losing league run has left them rooted to the foot of the table. However, Kirk sees no benefit in focusing on what has gone before.
“It’s dead, it’s gone,” Kirk said. “We can’t do anything about it, we can’t affect it anymore so it’s about forgetting it, resetting, refreshing and starting again.”
Leicester City might not be able to impact the way results have gone in the past but they can certainly impact them going forward and that starts with their six-pointer against Brighton & Hove Albion at The King Power Stadium on Sunday.
“It’s a cliché but the next game is always the biggest game, so it will be the biggest game until next week,” Kirk said. “It’s two teams who will be frustrated with their seasons to date and it’s two teams that have obviously made managerial changes in the last few months. That would certainly suggest that neither team are happy with where they are.”
Following their 8-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in October, Brighton & Hove Albion parted company with their long-serving manager Hope Powell. She has been replaced by German coach Jens Scheuer just before the turn of the year. Kirk is fully immersed in his preparations ahead of the game but recognises the unique challenges that the fixture presents.
He said “It’s hard to say what they’ll stick with and what they’ll change so we’ve actually analysed Jens’ previous teams Bayern and Freiburg. We’ve analysed them as much as we’ve analysed Brighton. He’s a well-respected manager, he’ll bring fresh ideas, I think we know quite a bit about him so we think we know what to expect.”
If Leicester City are to get anything from the game this the weekend, they will have to do it without defender Abbie McManus who the left the midweek match against Sunderland on a stretcher.
“She got a bad injury on Wednesday night, it will be a while before we see Abbie back,” Kirk explained. “She’s fractured her leg. She got a leg break that will keep her out probably for a minimum of three months.”
McManus adds her name to a long injury list at Leicester City and Kirk will certainly need to strengthen his squad further this month if The Foxes are to have any chance of staying up. He has already taken the first steps to doing that with the arrivals of Australian international forward Remy Siemsen and German goalkeeper Janina Leitzig but can we expect any more acquisitions in the coming weeks?
He said “There’ll definitely be more incomings, we’ve been active in the window. We’ve done a lot of preparation for this window in terms of the last couple of months, so the players we bring in are for real specific purposes, real specific job roles in the team.”
Leicester City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 3pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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