Steve Cooper Addresses Fans’ Concerns Over Ricardo Pereira’s Lack of Starts for Leicester City
Leicester City Riding a Wave of Positivity After Consecutive Premier League Wins
Steve Cooper’s side secured a 3-2 victory over Southampton last weekend, moving six points clear of the relegation zone.
While Abdul Fatawu was the standout player, earning most of the praise for changing the game for Leicester, Harry Winks also played a key role in the comeback.
Attention now shifts to Friday’s derby against Nottingham Forest, and Cooper has been addressing the media ahead of the match.
One major talking point has been his decision to bench Ricardo Pereira this season, sparking debate among fans.
Cooper was asked to explain why James Justin has been starting over Pereira, but his response was somewhat vague.
“You want fans to debate,” Cooper said, as reported by Leicestershire Live.
“But we also go through that with team selection. There’s always a question to be asked.
It’s just the nature of performance. If every position is as strong as JJ and Ricardo fighting it out, we’d be in a good place, and we need to embrace that.”
For now, it seems Justin will continue as the starting right-back, despite being partly responsible for Southampton’s first goal last weekend.
Cooper acknowledged the defensive issues on the right flank, adding, “It’s definitely a team thing. We never go down the line of focusing on individuals. It’s something we’re aware of. We’ll face up to all the things we need to improve on.”
Leicester City will be aiming for their third consecutive win on Friday, and if successful, they could climb to ninth place in the table. It’s a pivotal week for the East Midlands club.
