Marti Cifuentes says Leicester working ‘relentlessly’ to turn things around

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes insisted he and his players are working “relentlessly” to turn the club’s poor form around following a 2-1 home defeat against struggling Oxford at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester fell behind after just four minutes when Sam Long finished a long throw from close range before Mark Harris doubled the away side’s lead after 71 minutes with a cool finish following a counter attack.

The Foxes halved the deficit after 84 minutes when Abdul Fatawu curled a shot into the net from 10 yards out but Leicester find themselves six points outside of the play-off places and winless in three matches.

Home supporters chanted for Cifuentes to be sacked during the match with boos audible at both half-time and full-time but the Foxes boss remains confident of achieving the club’s targets this season.

Cifuentes said: “I’m always [confident of turning form around]. It’s not a pleasant situation as a manager or as a person because you want to do well for the fans.

“It’s sad they feel this way but I know football is about results. At the moment there are a number of fans that are not happy with a lot of things.

“We are working relentlessly every day to try to improve the situation and if something always makes me self-confident it is that at every club I’ve been at I’ve achieved the target.

“The target here is quite clear and I will not stop working towards it. We try to make sure we push the players to commit and accept the situation and have the mindset to be better every day because that’s my mindset.

“Under pressure, human beings react in different ways. Sometimes you grow through the pain and the difficult moments. The only way is to work harder.”

Opponents Oxford won for the first time under recently-installed boss Matt Bloomfield, who could not hide his elation following the victory, with the U’s unbeaten in three games since his appointment as head coach.

Bloomfield said: “It’s pure elation. There’s a lot of tough moments being a manager and there’s lots of times when you have to be resilient and keep fighting.

“It’s all worthwhile when you see your team perform and you get to share a moment with the staff, the players and the supporters. It reminds you of why you do it.

“For us to perform to that level, the lads have to take all the praise. I’m so fortunate to be the head coach and the man at the front and I love and relish the responsibility. I love being part of a group.

“We didn’t want to come here and just sit back and wait to learn our fate. We had to try and impose ourselves on the game and we played into the psychology of the game.

“When you have moments like this, against such good opposition, to share with special people, it means a lot.”