Gritty Leicester Made of Right Stuff Says Pearson
Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson claims his side's 3-1 win at Millwall proves they have the character and spirit to win the battle for promotion to the Premier League.
Pearson's Championship leaders are four points clear of second-placed Burnley after weathering a determined Millwall fightback and some horrendous weather conditions at The Den on Wednesday.
In torrential rain and a howling wind, Leicester took a two-goal lead through Anthony Knockaert and David Nugent.
Richard Chaplow got one back for managerless Millwall, who could have snatched an equalizer before Jeff Schlupp sealed the points for Leicester in stoppage time.
Pearson believes that kind of gutsy effort will stand Leicester in good stead as the pressure of the promotion race begins to intensify.
"We've had good wins recently in a footballing sense, but the conditions today meant we couldn't do so much passing. There were a lot of mistakes, but the players showed a lot of strength," Pearson said.
"From our perspective it was good to show we can win a physical game. We made heavy weather of it in the second half but that was as much down to Millwall's approach."
Queen's Park Rangers assistant manager Kevin Bond admits his third-placed team's 2-1 victory over lowly Doncaster Rovers underlined their need to bring in a striker to help support Charlie Austin.
Back after two games out with a hamstring problem, Austin headed home in stoppage time to give third-placed QPR their first win in four matches.
It was his 12th goal of the season and manager Harry Redknapp is determined to sign at least one forward to play alongside him during the January transfer window.
"We need help in that department and Charlie needs help," Bond said.
"I think in an ideal world, Harry would like to bring in someone he knows can do a job.
"He's looking at the options available to him and hopefully, before the transfer window closes, something can be done."
Burnley manager Sean Dyche challenged his promotion chasers to maintain the eye-catching play that inspired a 3-2 win over Huddersfield Town at Turf Moor.
Dyche was impressed as a Danny Ings double and Kieran Trippier's fine late strike secured just a third win in 11 league games.
"There were some real good pockets of football. We looked back to what we're about, really, because we created so many chances," Dyche said.
"I enjoyed some of the play. We want the players to play with a shape defensively but also use their own understanding of the game. It was a champagne moment for Kieran."
Wigan Athletic manager Uwe Rosler put substance before style to end Derby County's nine-game unbeaten run at the iPro Stadium.
A superb second-half strike from Chile international Jean Beausejour was enough to give Wigan a 1-0 victory which takes them to three points off the play-off places.
"We decided not to play our passing game and wanted to have a high line and I think it worked very well," Rosler said.
Elsewhere, Blackburn Rovers beat Leeds United 2-1 and Sheffield Wednesday defeated Blackpool 2-0.
Reading drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest, Bolton Wanderers drew 2-2 against Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town were held to a 1-1 draw by Charlton Athletic.
Brighton and Hove Albion drew 1-1 with Bournemouth and Barnsley drew 1-1 at Birmingham City.
Source: Agence France Presse
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