Marti Cifuentes hails Leicester ‘fight’ after late win over West Brom

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes admitted his side were not at their best but hailed the “fight and togetherness” they showed to earn a last-gasp 2-1 victory over West Brom at the King Power Stadium.

The hosts opened the scoring in front of thousands of empty seats through Jordan Ayew, but Karlan Grant expertly dispatched an equaliser to send both teams in at half-time level.

Jakub Stolarczyk made a string of saves in the second period to keep the Foxes in the contest, including one to tip Isaac Price’s effort on to a post, and that allowed them to snatch the points in stoppage time courtesy of Abdul Fatawu’s ferocious volley.

Cifuentes said: “We finished the first half with less control and in the second it was getting worse through the minutes.

“It was difficult, but the team stuck together and showed togetherness and personality to block some shots, saves from Jakub and then the last 10-15 minutes we regained control and was a great goal from Abdul.

“Overall, it wasn’t a great game, but we need to keep improving. At the same time there are things we need to value, we showed fight and togetherness.”

Some Leicester fans had planned a boycott of the club’s first home game of the year to show their frustration at the running of the club and there were large numbers of empty seats in the home end.

But Cifuentes said: “I am always grateful when they (the fans) show this level of togetherness and support with the players and they are right to show whether they are angry or not.

“Today at the end, everybody responded well. Understand on a Monday, cold, late, far from a great performance, but got the win.”

Cifuentes confirmed Michail Antonio was no longer training at the club due to a muscular injury.

He said: “Unfortunately he got a small setback training with us and we will not proceed with the process we started. It’s a pity because he’s a great professional, guy and showed good things.”

The last-gasp loss saw the Baggies extend their run of defeats on the road to 10 matches.

Some fans reacted angrily at the final whistle, with calls for boss Ryan Mason to leave the club after a 13th league defeat of the season.

Mason said: “If you’ve not been able to watch West Brom this season then that 90 minutes sums up our season.

“Created more chances than the opposition, more pretty much everything but for some reason we have an incredible ability to lose games we shouldn’t.

“I thought the fans were incredible and amazing. We’ve lost the game so there are frustrations and I accept that. They were with the team for 94 minutes and devastated they are going home with nothing.”