Stand Up To The Challenge, Says Winks

LCFC Men
30 Mar 2024
2 Minutes
Harry Winks has called for Leicester City to stand tall in their bid to repair their form and regain momentum in the Sky Bet Championship promotion race.

- Leicester City were beaten 1-0 by Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Friday
- Midfielder Harry Winks says the Foxes must stick together to get back on track
- He hopes City can return to winning ways in Monday's clash with Norwich City

Friday's 1-0 loss to Bristol City was a big blow for the Foxes as Anis Mehmeti's 73rd-minute effort settled the game at Ashton Gate. It leaves them third, two and one points behind Leeds United and Ipswich Town respectively, with a game in hand. 

Winks, who joined the Club from Tottenham Hotspur last summer, started by analysing the performance in the South West, before calling for unity and a brave approach from the players for the weeks to come.

"We weren't good enough today," he said. "We didn't play our natural football. There were a lot of sloppy mistakes from everybody, we didn't take our chances, but we've still got eight games left.

"It's eight games to find some form, to get back into confidence, and we've got good enough players and a good enough squad to do that. We've got players in the team who have done that before, and they've been here and they've been in these situations and right now's not the time to blame or to sulk or to be down.

"The most important thing now is we approach the next game with our chests out. We go out there and we give everything we can because it's important that we find some sort of form in the last eight games."

It's Norwich City up next at King Power Stadium on Monday and Leicester will be hoping to get back to winning ways against another side in the hunt for promotion. Winks says, with the backing of the Blue Army, they can secure three points.

"We hope so," City's No.8 added. "It will be a difficult game. They're a good side. They're looking to try and get into the play-offs, so it's going be tough.

"We know that every game that we play from now to the end of the season is going to be tough, but we need to find a way of somehow getting back to that form we had earlier in the season. And the only way we can do that is by standing up to the challenge and accepting the situation we're in and doing everything we can to get back."

Wilfred Ndidi completed 90 minutes for the first time for City since injury on Friday, while Ricardo Pereira was also introduced from the bench. Having players of that calibre back fit could be crucial, Winks believes, for the final run-in.

"Yes, they're key players for us," he explained. "It's important that we have as many players fit in this last month because going into this period of games where there's so many matches in such a short space of time, it's important we have as many players fit as possible. So to get players back in is good for us and important going into the last eight matches."