LEICESTER CITY 2
Dewsbury-Hall 28, Mavididi 87
BIRMINGHAM CITY 1
Stansfield 45
ENZO Maresca paid tribute to Leicester’s character after seeing them regain control of the race for automatic promotion.
Stephy Mavididi’s 87thminute header, after Birmingham’s leading scorer Jay Stansfield had earlier cancelled-out Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s opener, saw the Foxes take full advantage of defeats for both Ipswich and Leeds and regain first place.
“I just told the players I’m very happy, especially for the way we came through,” Maresca said. “We performed well throughout the game. Unfortunately, we conceded right at the end of the first half, but carried on in exactly the same way in the second half.
“There can be a temptation to try and go long ball, but we resisted that. The big thing for us is to manage the emotions. That is the most important thing at this stage of a season.”
With the Foxes returning to action at Millwall on Tuesday, Maresca added: “We just need to go game by game now.
That has to be the mentality. We are not looking beyond that.”
Both under pressure for completely different reasons, neither the Foxes nor the visitors looked overawed. But it was the attacking prowess of Maresca’s side which enabled them to dominate the opening exchanges, with John Ruddy denying Dewsbury-Halll and Patson Daka’s pace causing plenty of problems.
Although Blues were losing the battle for territory and possession, they still carried a threat. Koji Miy oshi tested Mads Hermansen’s han dling with a low angled drive, before the hosts finallyly engineered a 28th-minute breakthrough. On target for the second time in as many outings, it was Dewsbury-Hall who produced the finish. But Blues were the arch
