Smith: We Showed Spirit
- Manager Dean Smith praises his Leicester City players
- The Foxes held on to seal a crucial 2-1 success over Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Smith was delighted to see City dig in through adversity on Filbert Way
Kelechi Iheanacho's penalty and a late strike from Timothy Castagne put City on course for victory after Matheus Cunha's opener at King Power Stadium. It's a win which lifts Leicester up to 17th, out of the Premier League relegation zone.
After picking up his first win at the Club at the second attempt, Smith was thrilled by the application of his players. He was particularly impressed by the manner of the success, coming back from behind, after nine games without a victory.
"I’m really pleased," Smith told LCFC TV at full-time. "We wanted an aggressive start and I thought we got that. Unfortunately, another mistake cost us for the goal and Wolves punished us and then I thought it was tough for 20 minutes.
"We got a little overrun in midfield and their movement and timing was better than ours. But then we played a ball into the space and Jamie Vardy did what he does best when the ball’s in there. He beats the goalkeeper to it and wins the penalty and we can go in at half-time all square.
"He rolled his ankle so it gave me the opportunity to change it and get another number in midfield. I thought we started the second half really well and created some really big chances. The goalkeeper’s made a good save from [Patson] Daka and Kiernan put the rebound over the bar.
"Çağs (Çağlar Söyüncü) had a really good chance from a corner and the ‘keeper made a really good save again. I thought we created the bigger chances and they were less of a threat in the second half. We defended our box really well.
"That’s really pleasing because that will give everybody a big lift given the form we were on."
Leicester have much work to do, but Smith is hopeful that this can be the first step on the road to survival. The Foxes take on Leeds United at Elland Road on Tuesday, before Everton at King Power Stadium a week on Monday. Both teams currently sit either side of City in the standings.
Smith added: "To come from behind, after conceding a goal to another mistake, it’s very easy as a player to think everything’s against you. There has been a lot of questions about our spirit – but I thought that showed [spirit].
"We’ve still got six massive games to come. It’s given us a big lift but we won’t rest on our laurels. We’ll get prepared and ready now for Leeds on Tuesday. You could see the fans get behind us.
"I said before the game that we needed to get them off their seats cheering and they go home happy today. This can be a real tough place for teams to come and play. Hopefully we can continue that."