Dewsbury-Hall Eager To Continue Impressing For Leicester

- Leicester City face Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday (4:30pm GMT kick-off)
- Midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is hoping to contribute once again for the Foxes
- The former Luton Town loanee impressed in Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Southampton
- Leicester know they can reach higher levels in their performances, says the 23-year-old

City's No.22, who earned plaudits for his impact during the second half of Wednesday's 2-2 draw at Southampton, has made 11 appearances across all competitions in 2021/22. Jonny Evans and James Maddison found the net at St. Mary's Stadium as Leicester twice came from behind.

Dewsbury-Hall is back at the Club after a season-long loan at Luton Town in the Sky Bet Championship. After earning several accolades at Kenilworth Road, the 23-year-old is intent on making his mark with Leicester City, where he signed onto the Academy books at the age of eight.

Matchday 15 takes City to Birmingham to face Steven Gerrard's Villa and Dewsbury-Hall says they are determined to improve aspects of their performance on the south coast during midweek.

"We’re really looking forward to it," he said. "We’re going to try and put right a couple of mistakes we feel like we had [at Southampton]. We didn’t really start the game well enough, we all know that, and we had some stern words at half-time to rectify that. We know that the first half wasn’t Leicester.

"We were better in the second half, we created chances and were a lot more dominant. I feel like we need to start doing that from minute one, so we’ll be going back on the training pitch to make sure that the attitude’s right and that we start from the first whistle.

"We know, when we’re at it like that (in the second half at Southampton), not many teams can handle us."

Dewsbury-Hall is hoping to earn more opportunities in Leicester's colours over the coming weeks as Brendan Rodgers' men contest a hectic schedules of fixtures across three competitions. Sunday's game is City's second in December with another seven outings to come before 2022.

"Of course, I’m a player and all I want to do is play football," the former Blackpool loanee continued. "Any opportunities like that to come on and make a positive impact, I’m going to try my hardest and I’m happy that I managed to make a nice positive impact.

"It’s up to the manager whatever he wants to do and whatever he chooses to do, I know I’ll be working hard. Whether it’s from the start or maybe off the bench again, I’m going to try and make another positive impact.

"I’m happy with the way I performed and I’ll keep working hard because, when those chances come, you’ve got to try and take them.

"(Rodgers' faith) gives you great confidence. As a player, that gives me great confidence, because I know that he knew I had the qualities in the game to be able to come on and make an impact with my energy and on-the-ball-work. That’s great confidence for me.

"That gives me the extra motivation now to keep pushing because I know I’m not just a player that’s in the squad who he’s not going to use. I know there’s going to be a point in games where he’ll throw me on the make a difference, so that gives me great confidence."

Leicester are now unbeaten in three matches, with a 3-1 victory over Legia Warsaw, in the UEFA Europa League, and the 4-2 success over Watford preceding that draw at Southampton. Dewsbury-Hall says City can take heart from that small patch of form, but he believes there is more to come.

"It's a good platform and we all know that this is a very busy period with a lot of games," he explained. "If you do go on a good run, you can propel yourselves up there in the league.

"We know that we’re probably not still at our level yet, but the fact we’re picking up points is a bonus and we know, with extra things we’ll work on, when we’re at our best, we’ll be a real force. It’s just about getting back on the training pitch and working hard because, as I say, there’s a lot of games and anything can happen. If we string a couple of wins together, we’ll be right up there."

Maddison, on the other hand, has scored in three consecutive games, capping it off with an excellent individual effort at St. Mary's. For Dewsbury-Hall, it's rewarding to see his team-mate and friend get back to the levels which saw him carve out a reputation as one of the league's most exciting players.

"When he’s in form like this, he’s one of the best creative midfielders in this league," Dewsbury-Hall said. "You can see he’s got his confidence back, he’s got his swagger back, and that’s only positive for Leicester. He’s scoring and assisting in every game and he’s winning games for us and he’s getting us points.

"It’s about just keeping him at that level now, making sure he’s working hard, and he’s a pleasure to play with when he’s like that. You’ve seen the goal, the quality he has, and it gives confidence to players around him because he wants to bring you into the game, he wants to link up with you.

"He’s a great lad too, he’s so good with the players, he’s a big character in the dressing room. It’s not just on the pitch, it’s off it as well, so I’m really pleased for him."

Dewsbury-Hall grew up watching the Premier League during an era in which Gerrard was one of the game's leading lights. Now in charge at Villa, after winning the Scottish Premiership title with Rangers last term, the Shepshed-based midfielder is excited to put himself to the test against Gerrard's side.

"Of course, everyone knows how good he was and what he did in the Premier League," Dewsbury-Hall added. "He’s going to have drilled down some things with Villa in the short time he’s been there, so it’s going to be a very tough game.

"It’s surreal having him on the manager’s bench after growing up watching him in the Premier League and how good he was. We know it’s going to be a tough test on Sunday so we’re going to prepare and 100 per cent go for the three points."