Gary Rowett hails Patson Daka’s energy after his brace earns Leicester a point

Gary Rowett praised Patson Daka’s energy after the striker completed a 7,000-mile journey back from international duty to score twice for Leicester in a 2-2 draw against Preston.

Daka had to take three flights and a car journey to get back to Leicester from Buenos Aires, where he played for half-an-hour as a substitute in Zambia’s 5-0 friendly defeat by Argentina in the early hours of Wednesday.

But manager Rowett had no problems starting him in a Sky Bet Championship match that kicked off barely 60 hours after Zambia’s game had finished.

Daka pounced on a poor backpass to give Leicester a fourth-minute advantage and – after Preston had scored through Andrew Moran and Ben Whiteman to lead at half-time – capitalised on a loose touch by Pol Valentin to drive home an 81st-minute equaliser.

“He’s been on a flight from Argentina to Chile, Chile to Paris, Paris to England, and then in a car to a training ground, then trained yesterday morning and played with that much energy,” Leicester boss Rowett said. “I think it was quite outstanding.

“I saw him training yesterday (Thursday) and felt as though he had good energy, so I didn’t think it was a massive problem.

“Pato is so quick and so direct that I thought he might get into some good positions. So it was quite an early decision to start him.”

Leicester failed to capitalise on their early lead, with Moran driving Preston level in the 38th minute with a shot that bounced down off the bar and just crossed the line, before Ben Whiteman looped in a header from Alfie Devine’s corner to put the visitors in front in the 45th minute.

The draw leaves Leicester, with one win in 14 league matches, in the relegation zone with six games left.

“It’s up to us,” Rowett said. “It’s making sure we stay united, but ultimately we’ve got to win games of football. If you don’t, then you don’t deserve to get above other teams.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been incredibly competitive. We’ve been on the better end of the performances. We should have more points than we have. So we’ve got to make sure we get those points.”

Leicester felt Preston defender Jordan Storey might have been sent off rather than booked for a 63rd-minute foul that prevented Daka from racing in on goal, even though Oliver Skipp had played on and forced a save out of goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.

Rowett said: “Pato got brought down and you can argue that probably is a red card, but Skippy ends up through with a chance, so do you bring it back? You’re probably not going to do that.”

Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom rued the errors that cost his team two goals.

He said: “We created all four goals. That’s a frustrating thing.

“We’re not going to play against a team who’s fighting harder than that. And we’ve got to embrace that.

“I felt comfortable with how we were defensively. It’s going to be frantic, it’s going to be hectic, they’re going to throw everything at you. And that’s why you’ve got to enjoy this stage of the season. You use it as a rehearsal.

“We want to be fighting at the top end of the table. I know Leicester do. But when you come in here now, you’ve still got the tension in the stadium. Can we enjoy that?”