‘A Very Important One’ – Faes Previews QPR Clash

- Leicester City are facing Queens Park Rangers in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday
- Foxes defender Wout Faes looked ahead to the 3pm GMT kick-off back at King Power Stadium
- The Belgian international was rested for City’s midweek Emirates FA Cup success
- He is aiming to get back on track following two league defeats for the leaders

Leicester City’s Emirates FA Cup journey continued via a fifth-round success at AFC Bournemouth, placing the Foxes in the quarter-finals of the competition, where they will meet another top-flight side in Chelsea next month.

Although Faes was rested for the trip to the South Coast, one of nine changes made to the XI, he appreciated the efforts from his team-mates to get the job done in extra-time and is now looking forward to the upcoming cup fixture, alongside their main focus of the Sky Bet Championship.

“It was a huge one,” the defender said on Tuesday night’s result. “Especially because a lot of the guys who haven’t played much in the last few games got the opportunity to show themselves and I think you can say that they did. For the Manager, it must be very pleasing and also for the group.

“It was amazing because we lost two games in a row and then went to a Premier League side and played a game like that and got a result so it’s a big boost. It’s been a great test to play against Premier League sides. Now with Chelsea following in the FA Cup, it’s a very nice game and we can show what we’re capable of.”

The Hoops are set to arrive at King Power Stadium on Saturday as the league season resumes, with Martí Cifuentes’ side keen to remain outside of the bottom three, while Leicester look to cement their position at the division’s summit.

The gap currently stands at six points, but the Belgian knows it will be no easy task to overcome a QPR side who pushed the Foxes all the way in the reverse fixture, before City eventually triumphed 2-1 at Loftus Road.

He explained: “That’s what the Manager said straightaway after the game - this is nice, but now let’s focus on QPR because that’s a very important one to reach our target and it’s going to be a big game in front of our fans.

“It’s been a while so it’s going to be nice to be back in front of the home fans and hopefully we can get the win. Even if the gap was nine points or three points, the game would still be of the same importance. Obviously, we try and win every game and look game by game to try to get the result.

“They’ve changed their manager recently and I think they are a good team. I remember the game over there, it was a tight game and I am expecting a bit of the same from a team who are fighting for their club.”

Having featured 33 times for the Foxes so far this season across all competitions, the centre-back may have enjoyed his short rest from action in midweek but is raring to go again with a trip to Sunderland also coming up just three days later.

“I’m very fresh so I’m looking forward to getting back out there,” the 25-year-old added. “There’s a lot (of games) but personally I like it. When you play a lot of games, you’re always in game mode. I think you can see that I’m enjoying myself and for me the schedule is not the biggest issue.”