Caretaker boss stowell says leicester have a ‘top-seven’ squad

Caretaker boss stowell says leicester have a ‘top-seven’ squad

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Interim manager Mike Stowell has challenged the Leicester squad to get themselves back in contention for a top-seven finish. The first team and goalkeeper coach has been placed in temporary


charge, along with fellow first-team coach Adam Sadler, following Claude Puel’s dismissal. Puel was dismissed on Sunday morning, hours after the 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace. The result


saw the club’s board pressed into action due to their alarming drop down the Premier League table. You may like The loss was Leicester’s sixth in their last seven matches, a run that has


seen them knocked out of the FA Cup by Newport while slipping to 12th in the Premier League, eight points above the relegation zone. “I’ve spoken to the players and told them how good they


are and reminded them that they are a top-seven team. That’s where we should be and that’s where we should be aiming to get back to,” said Stowell at his pre-match press conference ahead of


Tuesday’s home game against Brighton. “It’s good that there is a game coming up so quickly but the players are professional and that’s the focus. They know they need to step up and go again


against Brighton.” Asked if he thought the players needed reminding because he thought they had let Puel down, Stowell said: “It’s always sad when a manager loses his job but I wouldn’t say


that the players let him down. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. > MS: “It’s always sad to see a manager leave the Club. He (Claude > 


Puel) had the Club at heart. Performances have been really good, but > sometimes you don’t get the rub of the green. We have professional > players and they’ll get on with the job.”


> #LeiBhapic.twitter.com/wqLPYnTxd4— Leicester City (@LCFC) February > 25, 2019 “Our performances have been good. We outplayed Tottenham at Wembley and outplayed Manchester United


here, I thought. “We just didn’t get the rub of the green sometimes and when mistakes happen they are not made deliberately.” Press Association Sport understands Leicester are keeping all


options while they conduct their search for Puel’s permanent successor, depending on whether they target a manager currently in work or a boss out of work. There have been reports that an


interim boss could be brought in for the remaining Premier League matches until the end of the season. Stowell does not know if the home game against Brighton will be his only one in charge.


He said: “We’ve been told, me and Adam, to take charge against Brighton and that’s it so far – and that’s what we will do. “There will be speculation, we can’t do anything about that. This


is a great club, it’s all here. There’s a great training ground, the stadium is going to be expanded and it is a very good squad. We’ve got some very good players here and we must keep them


all together.” Meanwhile, Puel said it was an “honour” to have been given the opportunity to manage Leicester and work under Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the club’s late owner who died in


October in a helicopter crash as he left the King Power Stadium The 57-year-old Frenchman, who was in charge for 16 months, said in a statement released through the League Managers


Association: “I would like to thank everyone that I worked with at Leicester City Football Club. “It was a privilege to work with the players, the staff and the management. It was my honour


to work for the late and much-loved Khun Vichai, who gave me the fantastic opportunity to manage his club and share some great moments with him. “My mission at Leicester City Football Club


ends here but I will continue to follow the performances of the team and wish the club all the best for the future.” Ben Chilwell is fit again after missing the Palace defeat with a minor


knock, giving Stowell a full squad to choose from.