Key Takeaways
- Leicester City are five points from safety with only four Championship matches left.
- Manager Gary Rowett says one unnamed player has urged the squad to “do something special”.
- Rowett warns relegation would force the club to cut tens of millions from its budget.
Leicester City’s battle to stay in the Championship has reached last-chance territory, according to boss Gary Rowett.
The Foxes have taken one win from their last 13 league outings and start the final fortnight five points adrift of safety. Rowett revealed that, during a recent team meeting, one player broke the silence to rally the group.
“He told the lads we still have a shot to write a different ending,” Rowett told BBC Sport. “It won’t be the season we dreamed of, but it can still be a story we are proud of.”
Supporters have shown their anger with boos at the King Power Stadium as back-to-back relegations loom. Leicester dropped from the Premier League last term and now face a first dip into League One since 2009.
Rowett, who has never lost a club to the third tier, admits this rescue act is the hardest he has faced. In ten games he has registered only one victory and six draws.
“I expected more points, plain and simple,” he said. “We must show fight on the pitch, not just in speeches.”
The manager played down talk that memories of the 2016 title miracle weigh on the squad. “That fairytale belongs to another group. Our focus is the next 90 minutes, not folklore.”
Saturday’s trip to fellow strugglers Portsmouth is already being billed as decisive. Rowett stressed the human cost of failure: jobs across the club and heart-broken fans who have kept faith.
“Relegation slashes budgets and hurts families,” he said. “The players need to feel that.”
Even with a six-point deduction for financial rule breaches removed, Leicester’s 41 points from 42 matches would still be their worst second-tier return in the three-points-for-a-win era. The squad that lifted the Championship trophy only two years ago is largely intact, yet has leaked more points from winning positions than any other side.
Rowett ruled out quick-fix psychology sessions. “There is no hidden switch. We train, we fight, we repeat. Four cup finals left – that’s it.”