Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes says ’emotionally, it’s not easy’ after home loss

Marti Cifuentes admits his Leicester side are struggling emotionally on the pitch after they slipped into the bottom half of the Sky Bet Championship following a 2-1 home defeat to in-form Watford.

The Foxes made the perfect start when Jordan James found the bottom left corner via the aid of a slight deflection after just seven minutes, only for Othmane Maamma’s strike to draw Watford level on the stroke of half-time.

Watford completed the turnaround in the 65th minute when Mattie Pollock beat Jakub Stolarczyk to Imran Louza’s cross from four yards out to leave Leicester winless on Boxing Day since 2018.

The Foxes have lost successive league games on three occasions this season and boss Cifuentes admits they are struggling to deal with their emotions during matches.

Cifuentes explained: “We were looking for a reaction after the last game, we started the game well and took the lead but it was very disappointing to concede from a mistake very close to half-time.

“We had to make sure we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves but there was another sequence of mistakes at a set-play and from there it was difficult.

“Emotionally it is not easy for the team at the moment. We didn’t play the last quarter of the game at the best level, we couldn’t create enough pressure.

“It’s important that everybody is accountable. We need to have the mental resilience to manage different situations. We can’t only expect to win games when things go our way.

“I knew the task when coming here, there are some things that unfortunately we need to change and try to change certain dynamics.

“All of us have the capacity to do much better and the fans deserve more than we’re offering at the moment.”

Opponents Watford are just one point outside of the play-off places after securing back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.

The Hornets are now unbeaten in their last five games and have lost just one of their last 11 matches much to the delight of boss Javi Gracia.

He said: “The way we are improving and the feeling that the team is growing is better than a couple of good results and the results are the consequence of the work.

“After the opponent scored (from) the first chance, we managed the situation to keep believing in our plan and at the end of the game we got what we wanted with three points.

He continued: “It took us a long time to get our first away win. Now we have a second, it’s something amazing for us. We know all the work we are doing to be able to compete this way.

“It’s a Christmas gift for the supporters. We have to show important values on the pitch – solidarity, be supportive and helping each other during the game, that’s the spirit we need.

“I trust all of my players. I would like to give more minutes to all of the players. It’s impossible to compete with the same players in all of the games.”

The Foxes took the lead early on when James fired a shot out of the reach of Watford goalkeeper Egil Selvik after his effort took a small deflection.

However, Watford drew level before the break when Caleb Okoli’s clearance was charged down and Maamma curled a shot into the left corner of the goal with the outside of his boot.

The visitors turned the game on its head in the second half as Pollock powered Louza’s cross into the bottom right corner from close range.