‘Refresh & Recover Energy’ – Maresca’s Cardiff Preview
- It’s Cardiff City up next for Leicester City in the Sky Bet Championship on Friday (7:45pm kick-off)
- The Foxes drew 1-1 with Ipswich Town earlier this week and remain top of the table
- Manager Enzo Maresca identified where they can improve prior to facing the Bluebirds
Leicester City’s lead at the top of the Sky Bet Championship remains at six points following a 1-1 draw with second-place Ipswich at Portman Road on Boxing Day. The Foxes were on course for a 20th victory of the league campaign prior to Town’s stoppage-time equaliser.
Speaking after the game in East Anglia, City’s Manager commented: “We conceded late away at Sheffield Wednesday, we conceded [late at Ipswich], but we’ve also scored some late goals - we scored against West Bromwich away. It’s football.
“We could control the game better for sure, but in the same moment, the game is never finished. We’re going to try and avoid conceding a goal at the end, but it’s normal. We were disappointed because we were so close to winning the game, but we didn’t win, we drew.
“At the same time, we recognise and we appreciate in any case that coming here, in this stadium, against this team, it is not easy for us, but also not easy for all the teams that face Ipswich here.
“I think we did quite well for almost all the game, apart from 10-15 minutes, which we are going to try and improve in certain situations.”
Travelling to Wales on Friday evening for a 7:45pm kick-off at Cardiff City Stadium, the fixture comes less than 72 hours on from the disappointing end to proceedings in East Anglia.
Expecting another testing encounter with the Bluebirds, having needed a late goal to overcome Erol Bulut’s side at King Power Stadium earlier this term, Maresca acknowledged that everyone is in the same boat when it comes to the short space between Championship matches.
“Now the most important thing is to refresh and recover the energy, because there is no time,” the 43-year-old explained. “Even after Rotherham on 23 December, on 24 December we had a half an hour session to help them with recovery.
“[On Christmas Day] we did something, but the game was [Tuesday] and now it will be the same. It’s just a matter of recovering for Friday. I think all the teams, when they have a chance to work, get better.
“In this moment, Cardiff are doing well. It will be another tough game, especially because playing every three days now is complicated, but not only for us. It’s also complicated for Cardiff and all the clubs in this moment.”
Marc Albrighton, Kasey McAteer and Jamie Vardy all remain out of contention for the trip to South Wales, Maresca revealed, though Dennis Praet could make a return having not travelled on Boxing Day.
Callum Doyle, meanwhile, is now available following injury and was named on the bench at Portman Road, bolstering the squad during a busy period.
“No, they are still out, all of them,” the Italian confirmed. “They are going to be out [of Cardiff]. Dennis missed today (Tuesday) because he felt something yesterday during the session. They (the medical staff) just said to me that it is nothing important so probably he will be okay for Cardiff.”
All times GMT.