Chelsea Punished Us, Says Gray

- Demarai Gray highlights the ruthlessness of Chelsea during Leicester City’s Emirates FA Cup clash
- Ross Barkley scored the only goal of a tight game at King Power Stadium
- Gray believes City can be proud of their runs in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup this term

The Foxes went close to opening the scoring in the first period when Wilfred Ndidi and Youri Tielemans saw efforts saved by Willy Caballero, while Jonny Evans headed wide just before the half-hour mark.

Ross Barkley then fired the Blues in front with a neat finish, and while Çağlar Söyüncü had a header blocked with five minutes to play, City couldn’t find a breakthrough.

Gray, who came off the bench with 14 minutes to play on his 24th birthday, told LCFC TV: “I think, of course, we're disappointed, especially after the first half. We were on top.

“So, as you can see in these games, if you don't punish a team when you have opportunities, a team like Chelsea will come and punish you. Unfortunately, that's what happened.

“If I come off the bench, that's my job – to try and get things going and help the team in a positive way. Obviously, we didn't get the equaliser to take it into extra-time, but we can't dwell on it too much.

“We've got Everton on Wednesday in the league, and I think it's important we focus on getting points and staying where we are, and progressing in the league.”

City’s FA Cup run was cut short at the quarter-final stage, while their journey in the Carabao Cup saw them progress to the semi-finals – something Gray believes his side can be encouraged by. 

“We should be proud of ourselves,” he said. “We've given the cup runs a good go this season. Hopefully next season, we can push on more.

“We're in a great position in the Premier League. It's important we just maintain it, stay focused, and try and stay up there and get higher if we can.

“There's always a game around the corner now and we're all going to be used. We've got good squad depth, so hopefully we can get three points there and get some momentum.”

Gray knows the Blue Army will have been urging City on from home, and wants the Foxes to perform well for them when they head to Goodison Park to face Everton in the Premier League on Wednesday (6pm BST kick-off).

He added: “Fans always make a difference, especially with the first half we had. They would have been driving us on.

“Obviously, it's not how is it the minute, we've just got to keep working hard on the pitch and we know that they're watching at home.

“So, [we've got to] perform as best as we can.”

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