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‘A Matter Of Balance’ – Maresca’s Sunderland Preview

Published

9 months ago

March 5, 2024

An encounter with Sunderland awaits on Tuesday evening, with Leicester travelling to the Stadium of Light for a 7:45pm GMT kick-off. Ahead of facing the North East outfit, Maresca spoke about the growing need to return to their best in the coming games, as pressure grows at the top of the division.

‘In this moment, we struggle’

Queens Park Rangers left King Power Stadium with all three points on Saturday, coming away with a 2-1 victory despite Ben Nelson pulling a goal back in the second period. The latest set-back following losses to Middlesbrough and Leeds United, finding the back of the net more regularly is a trait that the Foxes must recapture soon, according to the Manager.

“In this period, it’s not the first time,” Maresca commented following defeat to QPR. “It’s three defeats in the last three games. We dominated the chances but, in this sport, the most important thing is to score goals and, in this moment, we struggle.

“The only thing I can say is that it’s not easy to attack a team who sit back. Even with that, we arrive close but had lack of quality in the final third in terms of a pass or shot. We’ve already analysed the defeats.

“The dynamic of the game has been more or less the same. The quality of the game was not so good but it’s a matter of balance, we cannot be so happy or so sad. It’s just a matter of saying we lost the game; we analyse why we lost.”

‘Balance the situation’

It’s time to look forward, the Italian said, with Ipswich Town, Leeds United and Southampton all in close pursuit as the season hurtles towards its conclusion. A three-point cushion remains at the summit, but the midweek fixtures take on importance.

“Since we started, we are top and, when the rest play and win, you have the duty and you have the feeling that you need to win to make the gap bigger. There’s 11 games to go and we need to try and finish well, in the best way we can.

“When you win games, you see yourself closer to the target, so the mood is very good. When you drop points and the rest win, you see they are coming. We have to balance the situation. It’s more mentally.

“If you get too nervous, or if you relax, it could be dangerous. It’s a long time that we have been there and everyone is trying to chase us. We are not in a moment where we can think about that.

“It’s not a good feeling. The only way we finish that is to try and win games. That’s the most important thing. The good thing is that we have another game, so we can go again. But at the same time, we need to recover when the players look a bit down or tired.”

‘We need to adapt’

With Ricardo Pereira now unavailable through injury, Dennis Praet forced off on Saturday and both Wilfred Ndidi and Kasey McAteer remaining on the sidelines in the short-term, midfield options are currently limited. It’s a situation that must be managed, Maresca explained, as the games continue to come thick and fast.

He added: “Ricardo is injured and he will be out probably until after the international break. Dennis is injured again. In this moment, we have just Harry Winks, Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall] and Yunus [Akgün] as midfielders. You never know what will happen in the season but it is what it is.

“Now we need to adapt. We need to find a different solution on Tuesday. It’s difficult but we’ll see. Since we started, we’ve used Wilf, Cesare and Dennis because, next to Harry, they also provide defensive balance. Now, with all of them out, it’s Kiernan and Yunus to find the right balance in the middle between them.”