Leicestershire

Getting Leicester City players to realise their potential will be key in the Foxes' relegation battle, says manager Gary Rowett.

The 52-year-old oversaw his first win as Leicester boss in as they beat Bristol City 2-0 on Tuesday.

It was enough to lift the East Midlands club out of the drop zone with nine matches remaining.

When asked by BBC Radio Leicester about what it would take for the Foxes avoid a second successive relegation, after dropping out of the Premier League last term, Rowett replied: "By playing to our potential.

"Any team achieves something good and feel proud about themselves when they justify their potential. How you do that is play together as a team, you value different part of the games.

"If you embrace that, we know we have good players, we know that we have players that can perform better than we have done.

"I thought Tuesday was a glimpse of that, but I still don't think it's the best version of ourselves yet. And that is obviously what we are trying to achieve.

You can listen to all that Gary Rowett had to say to BBC Radio Leicester in the latest When You're Smiling podcast above or on the club's BBC Sounds page.

Leicester City will be aiming to avoid a drop back in the relegation zone when they host Queen's Park Rangers on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The side could be back in the bottom three if Oxford win in the lunchtime kick-off but boss Gary Rowett will be keen to back up his first win in charge with another to ensure the side remain safe.

Meanwhile, a four league match losing streak has got QPR dangerously close to joining the relegation scrap, with the side just nine points clear of the bottom three.

• Leicester have lost four of their last eight home league games against QPR (W3 D1), including the Hoops' most recent trip to the King Power in March 2024.

• QPR are looking for a league double over Leicester for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign when they won the Championship title under Neil Warnock.

• Leicester have lost their last five home league games against London teams by an aggregate score of 12-0, last winning in December 2024 in a 3-1 win against West Ham.

• QPR have won just two of their last 21 away league games that have kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday (D7 L12), wins against Wrexham in September and Bristol City in October this season.

• Leicester manager Gary Rowett has won just two of his last 12 league games against QPR (D5 L5) and is winless in three (D1 L2).

Image source, Shutterstock

Leicester City prospects Nathan Opoku and Kevon Gray have signed new deals with the Championship club.

Ghanaian forward Opoku, 24, is yet to make a first-team appearance for the Foxes since joining the club in January 2023 from Syracuse University in the United States.

He is on loan at Newport County in League Two this season, playing under decorated former Leicester defender Christian Fuchs, having previously had a spell in Belgium with OH Leuven.

Foxes academy defender Gray, 19, has been named on the bench a number of times for Leicester this season but is yet to make his senior debut for the East Midlands side.

Gray's new deal will run until 2029, while Opoku's contract has been extended until the summer of 2027.

Leicester City will continue to treat every match like a final until Championship safety is guaranteed, says goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.

The Foxes beat Bristol City 2-0 on Tuesday to end a 10-match winless league run and move out of the relegation zone.

First-half goals from Ben Nelson and Abdul Fatawu had the Foxes on their way to delivering a first victory under manager Gary Rowett, while a second-half penalty save from Stolarczyk ensured Leicester ended a four-game losing run at home with their first league clean sheet for 31 league games.

"The whole team worked really hard today for the clean sheet and we earned it," Stolarczyk told BBC Radio Leicester.

"Obviously we had the penalty and the lucky save, shall I say. Apart from that I'm not sure I had any saves to make, and you could see the desire to put bodies on the line from the whole back four.

"It will give us all confidence - the back four, myself and the whole team - going into the next finals.

"Saturday will be treated like another final and we have keep that going until we become safe."

Leicester are at home agains on Saturday when they host Queens Park Rangers.

You can listen to more from Stolarczyk, as well as Foxes manager Rowett, on BBC Radio Leicester's When You're Smiling podcast on BBC Sounds.

Leicester City manager Gary Rowett spoke to BBC Radio Leicester following Tuesday night's 2-0 win against Bristol City.

"It's nice to feel the stadium buzzing and I'm pleased with the players' performance. I could feel the players' energy coming back into the dressing room afterwards," he said.

"They worked incredibly hard and I think we've been unfortunate not to have had the first win yet.

"We got the set-piece for the first goal, with Ben [Nelson] getting on the end it. And he did that for me last year in a crucial game towards the end of the season [at Oxford]. I think he should do that more.

"The second goal comes from 18 passes and we move the ball well, are nice and composed and we get a nice cross. You do wonder with his wrong foot if he [Fatawu] will get the power and accuracy, but he does exactly that. He is a magical player and he showed that tonight with that finish.

"To go 2-0 up put us in a nice comfortable position and I was keen to see how we would handle that.

"To get the clean sheet is really nice. That gives us confidence and I can't actually believe it's been that long [30 league games without clean sheet] since we had one. We have to value clean sheets and have to value the defensive discipline. And we have done in the games since we came in."