'A Difficult Game For Sure' - Maresca Expects Tough Robins Test

- Enzo Maresca has previewed Leicester City's clash with Bristol City
- The Robins, managed by Nigel Pearson, visit King Power Stadium on Saturday
- Maresca expects another big challenge for his in-form Foxes
- He also explained his gratitude for the Club's fans, who are embracing his playing style

The Foxes will be hoping to return to the Sky Bet Championship summit on Saturday with three points over the Robins. Maresca's men have won six of their seven matches so far in the league and sit second in the table.

Nigel Pearson, who managed City to titles in the third and second tiers over two spells on Filbert Way, will make his first competitive return since leaving the Club in 2015. Naturally, Maresca expects it'll be a tough test for his developing side.

"I know their manager was here for a while, so probably he knows the house very well," the Manager told the media on Friday. "He has a big legacy. He won when he spent time here.

"I know from the Club that he’s a manager who reached important things here, he has a good relationship with the fans. It will be a difficult game for sure. They’re going to prepare the game in the perfect way and we’re going to try to do the same.

"At the end, for me, it more or less doesn’t matter, the opponent. It’s going to be a difficult game because the opponent will try to use their weapons to hurt us. They’ll try to defend and attack, so it will be a tough game."

Maresca also discussed his appreciation for the Blue Army, who he says are 'making an effort' to understand his philosophy. That playing style sometimes necessitates that City slow the game down and the Italian is grateful to the Club's supporters, who have been rewarded for their backing with a record-breaking start to the new campaign. 

He also toasted the away supporters after their vocal backing during away wins at Southampton and Norwich City.

"When you play away, you can hear the fans more," he added. "Logically, to create the same environment at home, to have [30,000] people all signing together, it would be a great environment for us.

"If we are able to create the right environment at home, it’s a plus for us. We’ve played three games at home, Coventry, Cardiff and Hull. Even against Hull, we lost the game, but for me, the analysis from the game was a good one.

"The people, the fans, I can see they are trying to make an effort. We are grateful about that. They are trying to make an effort to understand what we are looking for. When we face a team like Norwich the other day, they go man-to-man, and the only free man is [goalkeeper] Mads [Hermansen]. Sometimes, Mads has to keep the ball for 10-20 seconds, I don’t care to be honest.

"If Mads passes the ball when they are man-to-man, all the players, they are marking, so it’s difficult. Probably, he needs to wait until some opponents jump to Mads.

"In that case, it means that [we wait] until our player is free and I can see that the [fans] are making an effort [to understand]."