17 December 2023 , 23:55
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Birmingham City stopped a run of eight defeats on the spin away from St Andrew’s with their 1-0 victory over Cardiff City in midweek.
But now Wayne Rooney and his Blues face arguably the Championship's toughest test: Enzo Maresca's Leicester City.
Rooney has dodged a date with Leicester striker Jamie Vardy in the wake of the Wagatha Christie libel trial as the ex-England forward is struggling with a knee injury. But he knows his side will have to be at their best to get anything from the high-flying Foxes.
Rooney admits: “Leicester are one of the best teams in the division. But beating Cardiff gave us loads of belief and confidence. We’ll be ready.”
While Vardy misses out, facing Rooney will be another ex-England man in Conor Coady, who has followed the blueprint of success once before in the Championship - and believes the key for Leicester is to continue following Maresca's blueprint in the coming months.
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Coady was Nuno Espirito Santo’s lieutenant as Wolves stormed to the Championship title five years ago. Coady was deemed surplus under Bruno Lage and took the decision to swap West Midlands for east last summer after the Foxes were demoted.
But he says that boss Maresca has a plan that's working. And if Leicester City will end up in the same place if it is adhered to.
He said: “I think it’s so important to have a plan. If you’re changing rhythm every game and you’re changing the way you play, then there’s no continuity. If you have a plan and if you’re picking up results, confidence grows. We understand how the manager sets us up and what he wants us to do. And we’re sticking to that.
“We do make the odd tweak here and there but the same idea of having the ball and controlling the game. It’s important we do that because I think a massive part of getting out of the division is having a plan and seeing it through.
“I’ve been lucky enough to get out of this league before and it’s about doing that every game.”
Conor Coady of Leicester City (MI News/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)Leicester and fellow pace-setters Ipswich Town set a record by reaching a half-century of points after only 21 Championship games. They both hold a 10-point lead over third-placed Leeds United, but Coady is aware that any suggestion that the Foxes have done the hard work needs to be stamped out.
He added: “You have to recognise that yes, we’re a good team but we’re coming up against other good football teams and they want to beat us.
“People are looking at Leicester at the moment and think we’re just going to beat everyone. It’s not like that. That’s never going to be the case because we’re coming up against sides that prepare and plan to play against us.
“So when those little blips come, it’s important we bounce back as quickly as possible. We go back to what we know and how we’re going to play and build from there. I think you’ve seen that in the past couple of weeks.”