Puel: A Strange Feeling, But We Will Focus

- Claude Puel believes Leicester City’s trip to Southampton will be a ‘strange’ experience, but that will not affect his side’s performance
- The Foxes boss will make his first return to St. Mary’s Stadium on Wednesday evening
- City have now won three Premier League games in a row following Saturday’s win at Newcastle

While Puel guided the Saints to an eighth-place finish and a Carabao Cup Final appearance last term, focus for the former Monaco midfielder is simply to register another victory in England’s top flight.

City head to the south coast having won their last three Premier League fixtures, with the most recent finishing in a 3-2 triumph against Newcastle United on Saturday.

“It will be a strange feeling, of course, to go back to St. Mary’s Stadium,” Puel told the media on Monday afternoon.

“It will be nice to see some familiar faces, but the most important thing, like it is for the players, is to keep a good focus. We want to try and make a strong game against this team.

“They will be another great opponent. They had a good performance against Manchester City and against Arsenal.

“We know their quality, so it will be important for us to find this good play with a good focus and concentration about our game.”

With a chance to reflect on the victory at St. James’ Park, Puel admitted there is room for improvement and that the target now is for City to be more consistent in their displays.   

“The most important thing is for the players and the Club to get good results and to try and stay at a high level of performance,” continued Puel.

“It was not our best game. We cannot play with a good consistency in every game. Sometimes it’s up and sometimes it’s down.

“For example, the first few minutes of the game, there was not enough opportunities against the opponent and we also conceded a goal.

“It’s important to correct this and find a good consistency until the end of the game. That is important for the next game, of course.”