Claudio Ranieri hopes FA Cup success revives stumbling Leicester City
Italian hopes his team’s FA Cup victory against Derby provides a springboard to ease the spluttering champions’ relegation fears
Claudio Ranieri hopes Leicester’s FA Cup victory against Derby can provide a springboard to ease the spluttering champions’ relegation fears.
Ranieri’s side got a welcome boost as they moved into the last 16 of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win in a fourth round replay at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday.
Goals from Andy King, Wilfred Ndidi and Demarai Gray sealed Leicester’s first win in six matches at a most opportune moment.
Ranieri, who received a vote of confidence from the club’s Thai owners this week, believes the Cup success can lift spirits just in time to pull away from the bottom three.
“In this moment everything goes wrong but tonight one thing went right. Derby played good football and we won,” Ranieri said.
“This is what we needed and I wanted. Wilfred Ndidi made a very good goal, as did Demarai Gray.
“I’m happy with Ndidi. This young player full of personality and good character. We’ve chosen well.
“We want to do well in all competitions. We want to go forward in the FA Cup.
King has seen many ups and downs during his long spell with Leicester and the midfielder echoed Ranieri’s hope that the team’s fortunes could be taking a turn for the better.
“It’s been a tough few weeks and we’ve been getting a lot of criticism. Tonight we showed the fight we have got in the squad,” King said.
“It was important to get a win tonight to try to kickstart some form to take into the league.
“We have 14 massive games left in the league but now we are through in a couple of rounds of the cup. Why can’t we write another story in that?”