We’re Not Getting Ahead Of Ourselves, Says Dewsbury-Hall
- Leicester City head to The Den to face Millwall on Tuesday night (7:45pm kick-off)
- The fixture comes three days after beating Birmingham City 2-1 on home soil
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall reacted to that dramatic late win and previewed the trip south
- The Foxes head to the capital sitting top of the Sky Bet Championship with six games to go
A second successive home victory for Enzo Maresca’s men was secured in dramatic fashion courtesy of Stephy Mavididi’s late header, which saw the Foxes overcome Birmingham City 2-1 at King Power Stadium.
“I'll be honest, when Stephy's goal went in, I had goosebumps,” the midfielder said following full-time. "That was an unbelievable feeling because the game felt like it might have been slightly petering out, even though we were on the front foot.
“We were around the edge of that box, but when you have 10 men behind the ball, it's hard to break down and you need little moments of quality, and individual brilliance. It's a great cross from Yunus [Akgün] and then we got the header from Stephy.
“I made a little run into the box and I was quite tired at the time. When I saw Stephy power in at the back post, I thought: 'This is it'. He gets a bit of stick for his heading at times, but in the last two games, he's put one on a plate for me with his head, and he scored with his head.
“I don't know if he's doing extra sessions after training for his heading, because he's definitely improved, but it’s a top goal, good performance and now on to the next. You know, when that goes in, moments like that you won't forget in a hurry.
“I think I'd rather get early goals, so it's a bit more comfortable. But in terms of adrenaline, there's not many better than that. I put it down to having patience. When there's 10 men behind the ball, you can't rush it, because it starts becoming a basketball game and that's not really what you want.
“You have to be patient, you have to try and find your moment and I thought the goal epitomised that. We got into a good area, put a great ball in and got the winner. I believe that's what top teams do.
“They don't try and score in the first five minutes of the half. They use the whole half and, no matter what time, they punish you and that's how you win games.”
Wild Celebrations After Late Birmingham Win
Stephy Mavididi's late header secures a dramatic 2-1 victory over Birmingham City to put Leicester City back to the top of the Sky Bet Championship.
The Academy graduate netted his 12th goal of the campaign to get Leicester up and running in the first half, before an uncharacteristic error at the back led to the Blues’ equaliser. Persistent attacking play paid off in the end, however.
“Credit to Patson [Daka],” the 25-year-old commented on his opener. “He was under a lot of pressure from a lot of lads and he set it off lovely and that's the sort of the moment where the game freezes. You have to just compose yourself and then put it in and thankfully I did. It got us off to a good start in the game.
“We started really well and it's a sloppy goal to concede on the stroke of half-time. It's a mentality to just forget about it, continue doing what we're doing and wait for that one opportunity and, when it comes, take it and we did that.
“I'm happy that we showed mentality to continue and win the game in the end. Mads [Hermansen] has been phenomenal this season. He is so important to the way we play. We use him as an outfield player when we're in possession.
“We're humans, we're going to make mistakes, especially the way we play, and for how good he's been this season, he's well in his right to make couple mistakes. It just showed the way he played in the second half.
“It didn't faze him. He continued to do what he's done and that just shows his character. There's no problem on this, it's on to the next one, forget about it.”
Now attention has quickly turned to Tuesday evening’s meeting with Millwall and a second trip to The Den this year. At this stage of the promotion race, with City holding a one point lead at the Sky Bet Championship summit, it’s all about getting over the line.
“We don't focus on anyone else,” Dewsbury-Hall added. “We’re only bothered about us. You can't be too bothered about other teams. It will affect the way you play and I know if we do our job, then we'll be there. We've played 40 games this season and have six more.
Dewsbury-Hall: I Had Goosebumps
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall takes stock on a dramatic afternoon which ended in a 2-1 win for Leicester City over Birmingham City.
“That's nothing in the grand scheme of things. Put another four, five, six good performances in and we're there. It’s back to the drawing board, rest and recover and onto a big week.
“It's an iconic ground in English football, but we know what we need to do. We'll have a game plan. They're going to try and make it tough for us, of course, but every game until now and the end of the season is tough because pretty much every team has got something to play for still.
“It is a cliche, but it's true. It's one game at a time now and then if you do that and you keep getting positive results, before you know it, you're nearly there, so we're not getting ahead of ourselves. It's been a great day, but on to another one on Tuesday.
“No hiding place, we were in a slump. Our confidence was probably a bit low the last couple of weeks, but it's worth it when you have a dressing room that happy at the end of full-time here.
“It helps us, gets us through, gets us over the line, and credit to the fans. Now we've got a couple of away games and I know [the fans will] be coming in their numbers. I'm hoping we can make it a good, positive day for them.”