- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall reflects on Leicester City’s 2-1 Premier League loss to Liverpool
- City were ahead through Dewsbury-Hall, before two own goals from Wout Faes
- They head into 2023 sitting 13th in the Premier League table
The Foxes were ahead after only four minutes when the No.22 drove through the heart of Liverpool’s backline and clipped the ball beyond Alisson.
However, two own goals from Wout Faes put Liverpool in front, and while City have the chances to restore parity, they were unable to end 2022 with a positive result. The display was there for all to see, though, and Dewsbury-Hall echoed that to at full-time.
“I thought it was a much better performance than the other day." he told LCFC TV. "The main thing about what we wanted to achieve from the other day was a good response and a way, better performance and I feel like we did that.
“We had a much better start, we were aggressive from the start and yes, we really took the game to Liverpool and we were in the game right up until the last minute, and we had chances.
“If we were a bit more clinical on another day or we get a bit of rub of the green, then it could be a different result. We can take a lot of positives out of that performance, I feel, going into the next couple of games.”
There was a clear contrast between the Boxing Day loss to Newcastle United and the reverse at Liverpool four days later, Dewsbury-Hall says.
“We got it all up in the air and in the next couple of days after the game, talked about what we did wrong and that was it,” he continued. “We moved on and we were completely focused on this game – and I think you saw that, we put in a much better performance.
“So, hopefully we take that going into the next couple of games and we keep driving to get more positive results. We wanted a really aggressive, quick start, especially because of what happened the other day, and it couldn’t have been much better.
“We had a great start, had a couple more chances where we could have gone 2-0 up, and then it's a completely different game and at a place like this, I feel like you have to take your chances because, you know, there are times in the game where you're going to get pressured, so yes, a good start, and we just need to need to take the positives now and go into next week.”
Zambia striker Patson Daka was the creator of Dewsbury-Hall’s opener, which saw him skip through and beat Alisson one-on-one for his second goal of 2022/23.
“Patson's laid it off to me, and I took a touch,” he explained. “I've gone to look up to play pass and it's just an open field in front of me. So, I thought: 'I'll just keep it going', and it was one of them where it was a nice little run and then I managed to get the finish. So, yes, it was a nice feeling to score. It's just disappointing that we couldn't hold onto the three points.”
Dewsbury-Hall could have had a second on the night, but a brilliant cross from Timothy Castagne was headed wide by the Academy graduate. He had timed his run perfectly, only he couldn’t apply the finish.
“I mean, it's a great ball in and I've made the run and I'm half expecting to get a bit of pressure from behind me, but I should do better there,” he admitted. “I've got free header and I'm disappointed because, again, it's one of them chances where I feel like you have to take here because you might not get a lot. So, I'll probably go into training and probably work on my heading.”
It was a frustrating night for Leicester, not least for Belgium centre-back Faes, though Dewsbury-Hall knows City's No.3 has the character to bounce back immediately having performed at a consistently high level since his arrival from Reims in the summer.
“Since he came in, he's been a real breath of fresh air,” Dewsbury-Hall said. “Has been fantastic defensively. We've looked a lot stronger since he's come. And yes, we've just been a better unit as a whole.
“Everybody makes mistakes. It's football. You're not going to be perfect. It's just one of them where we say to him: 'Look, move on. You can't dwell on it', and he won't do that. I know him as a person now, and I feel like the second half, he played very well. He won a lot of duels, he was aggressive.
“He won't let that affect him. It's part of the game and it's just about going to the next game now, and just getting back to what you've been doing the whole time.”
Coming up for City next is a Premier League encounter with Fulham at King Power Stadium on Tuesday (7:45pm GMT kick-off) – a match that kick-starts a big month for Brendan Rodgers’ men.
“January is a very important for us,” the midfielder stated. “We want to have some really positive results and get ourselves up the table. I feel like we can do that, we've shown at times this season how good we are.
“It's now about just sticking together as a team because there are winnable games in that month, so come the end of the month, hopefully we'll be in a lot better position higher up the table.”
Just under 3,000 Foxes fans made their way to Anfield on Friday, and Dewsbury-Hall says their backing has been, and always will be, a huge part of the Club’s success.
“The support was fantastic,” he added. “It's always nice to see a full away end and it's a credit to them, even though we've not got any points out of the game, the support they're showing us, it does mean a lot to us as players.
“It gives us that extra boost, that extra confidence going into the games, because with them behind us, it gives you that extra 'umph'. I know it sounds cliché, but it's true. Yes, [we're] really thankful for them tonight. They didn't stop singing, and I just hope that they will get home safe.”