By Paul Jones
Steve Cooper is “even more committed” to succeed at Leicester City following negative fan chants during the penalty shoot-out victory at League Two Walsall in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night..
The Foxes made 10 changes and had to rely on Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward saving spot-kicks from Taylor Allen, David Okagbue and Liam Gordon in the shoot-out to advance to the fourth round.
Charlie Lakin and Albert Adomah missed big chances for Walsall in the 90 minutes as the hosts held their own.
Chants of “Cooper sort it out” and “this is embarrassing” were heard from the 2,000 strong travelling Leicester fans, who have only seen their side win once in all competitions this season.
"Credit to him and the goalkeeping department" – Steve Cooper 🧤
— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 25, 2024
Cooper, who took over at the King Power Stadium in June and is the only current Welsh manager in the Premier League, said: “I obviously heard the chanting from the crowd, I’ll own it and you’ll never hear me having any disrespect to fans’ opinions.
“We have to build some credit with the supporters to do the job, but I knew that anyway. It’s things like that which will make me even more committed to do well, because I’m desperate to do that.
“I want to do well for this football club – I’ve bought into what it stands for, I take that responsibility seriously.
“Nobody said this season would be easy. It’s going to be a challenging season but nobody is up for it more than me.
“We can definitely play better. I won’t be hiding away from chants, no problem with it. I’m even more committed to that now than I have been before and even that was at its maximum.”
Steve Cooper says he has 'no problem' with the Leicester fans chanting criticism towards him and intends to build credit with the supporters 💬 pic.twitter.com/cwekQuB8sQ
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 25, 2024
Former Swansea City head coach Cooper insists his side gave the League Two outfit confidence with their sloppy performance.
He added: “An average performance at best – we gave too much hope to Walsall and the crowd.
“For all the ball we had, we weren’t enough of an attacking threat and didn’t create enough dangerous moments in the game.
“You run the risk with changes but it was a very experienced team out there with high level players.”
We head straight to penalties 🥅#WSLLEI pic.twitter.com/MlX2JFNlml
— Leicester City (@LCFC) September 24, 2024
Walsall boss Mat Sadler was proud of his side following their spirited performance against a team three divisions higher.
He said: “There were large parts where they were extremely rattled.
“I felt like it was going to happen where something was going to drop but it didn’t quite drop.
“It wasn’t meant to be. Everything but pride. Limited them to not many opportunities and I’m just proud, proud of everyone connected to the club.”
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