JibrinLeicester City will be in serious jeopardy if they are still inside the relegation zone with four games remaining as they lack the “heart and desire” of their rivals, Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe believes.
City are a point from safety with seven games left, having claimed just one victory in their last 13 outings.
Their upcoming fixtures look favorable, with Gary Rowett’s side facing three teams in Preston, Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea who have little to play for beyond pride.
But then they have a brutal final four, with away trips to relegation rivals Portsmouth and Blackburn surrounding two home clashes against promotion-chasing Hull and Millwall.
Those matches will be about more than just quality, and Hinchcliffe believes City will come up short on heart and desire.
“I do feel that they might just be able to finish with their heads above water but if you look at their last four games, they’ve got Portsmouth, Hull, Millwall and Blackburn,” Hinchcliffe said on Sky Sports’ Essential EFL podcast. “If they don’t pick up wins over the next few games…
“They’ve only won one of the last 13. How are they suddenly going to win four or five matches? You don’t win one out of 13 unless something’s not right.
“Are they suddenly going to flick a switch and everything will improve, they’ll win two or three games and make the last four more bearable?
“If they’re in the bottom three come the last four games and they’re playing the likes of Portsmouth and Blackburn, I feel Portsmouth and Blackburn have got more heart and desire than Leicester have to get a result.
“It’s not about performances now. It’s about getting the job done. I just wonder whether the Leicester players are thinking: ‘It’s been a difficult time, we drop and we drop, and we can’t do anything about it.’
“But they can do something about it. It’s the players taking on responsibility and showing how much that club means to them in the remaining games.”
Hinchcliffe does believe it’s the players, rather than either Rowett or former manager Marti Cifuentes, that are ultimately to blame for where they sit in the standings.
He says they have “world-class” players in several positions, but has watched a side “going through the motions” this season.
He added: “Those players at Leicester have been so, so poor. Looking at the quality of their squad and the responsibility that players have in the modern game for driving themselves, the coach can talk to them all they like and set up a formation and a style of play, but it’s up to the players to play with heart and soul and make tackles and care.
“I’ve watched a lot of Leicester games and it looks like they’re going through the motions half the time.
“The big criticism is not of Marti Cifuentes or Gary Rowett. They’ve got world-class players in many positions, vastly-experienced players who have excelled at this level before, so why have they not excelled this season?
“It can only be down to them. They’ve had different coaches, talented coaches, the team’s been chopped and changed, but nothing seems to be working for them.”
Jibrin
