Leicester City man makes 'bottle it' claim amid Championship promotion race vs Leeds United and Ipswich Town

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes Leicester City’s rivals are waiting for them to ‘bottle’ the Championship promotion race but is keen to use that pressure as motivation.

Leicester got a much-needed win at home to Norwich City on Easter Monday but remain out of the automatic promotion places, following a dismal run of one win in six games beforehand. Top spot in the table had almost been written off with the Foxes 12 points clear in first and 17 clear of Leeds United in third but a dramatic change of fortunes for either club saw the gap cut in the blink of an eye.

Enzo Maresca’s side are now very much in the promotion race and, while they have a game in hand, currently sit outside the top two with just seven games left for them and six for Leeds and Ipswich. Both watched on as Leicester took all three points early on Monday and midfielder Dewsbury-Hall insists the desire for them to throw it away is only acting as more motivation.

“It was a cup final for us,” Dewsbury-Hall told Leicester’s website. “We needed to win it, as simple as that. We showed mentality after going down 1-0. I thought we played really well, we scored some great goals. In the end, it was a deserved win. 

“(It was pleasing) especially with how much pressure we’re under. Everybody’s got their eyes on us thinking we’re going to bottle it basically. But that was a great response and gives us a great platform to get as many wins as possible until the end of the season.

“(Pressure) is part of the game. It’s never going to be smooth sailing in football. You’re always going to have pressure, especially when you’re a good team and people expect you to win games all of the time. You just have to take it in your stride and use it as motivation and fuel in games. We did that, everybody put in a great shift.”

That game in hand for Leicester will not come until April 23 when they host Southampton, with the game initially called off due to the former’s FA Cup commitments. Russell Martin’s side remain in the race for automatic promotion but will need an almost perfect end to the season.

Saturday looks set to be another massive day in the battle for a top-two finish, with Ipswich at fierce rivals Norwich early on before Leeds and Leicester face Coventry City and Birmingham City respectively. Southampton are at Blackburn Rovers.