‘Mentality, Focus & Belief’ – Cooper Speaks On Saturday’s Challenge
Steve Cooper wants Leicester City to thrive in the current period of adversity to come out the other side with something to show for their efforts.
A first Premier League win of the season against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday would go some way to achieving that aim, with the Foxes currently locked on three points and hovering above the bottom three at this early stage of proceedings.
Ahead of that King Power Stadium encounter with the Cherries, a 3pm BST kick-off on Filbert Way, Cooper spoke openly around the current mentality and how he hopes to reverse a trend of not picking up the results that everyone at the Club desires.
Keen to show Leicester have what it takes to compete at the level required, City’s Manager spoke in Thursday’s pre-match press conference about how being strong in the face of adversity has been his message to the group.
“I don’t think there’s anything beneficial from being negative,” he told reporters. “In this situation, which can be classed as a tough time, you have to be positive. We have to take responsibility for improving results and being in the league position that we want, we shouldn’t ignore that.
“But we’ve also got to make sure that we really believe in what we’re doing and build on the positives that have been in our performances, while addressing things that we need to improve on as well.
“We want to thrive in these moments. There’s nothing better than coming through a difficult time. When you do, you’re in such a better place because of the learning that takes place. There’s no doubt you sometimes don’t feel it when results aren’t going your way and you’d like elements of performances to be a bit different, so it’s not always easy to take.
“But there’s also an awareness that some really important learning takes place and when you do get through it, it does allow you to have a better longer term. I keep saying to the players about what an opportunity we have now to get through this little spell, come through the other side and allow us to kick on, but we’ve got to get
