JibrinHe can change his Leicester City reputation if he keeps delivering performances that steer the club toward survival.
The midfielder has twice been omitted from the City squad in the past 12 months after falling out of favor with Ruud van Nistelrooy and then Marti Cifuentes, straining his bond with supporters.
But he returned following Cifuentes’ departure and started Gary Rowett’s first game in charge, playing a pivotal role in the draw by scoring what seemed destined to be the winner before Ben Wilmot’s late equalizer.
When he found the net, he sprinted toward the 2,800 traveling fans and clutched the City badge. That gesture, combined with his overall display, will go a long way in winning back the crowd, Rowett believes.
“I’ve got to judge it from a fresh slate,” Rowett said. “We’ve not got enough players yet to choose who we work with.
“He can control games of football in the Championship. Clearly for us at the moment, we’re better controlling the game with the ball than we are without it. He’s going to be a key player for us.
“I thought you saw, when he scored his goal, the joy in his face. You see the elation. He runs over to the fans.
“The only way to change that relationship is to keep putting in big performances like he’s done and show that he wants to win games of football.
“I thought the fans got behind him and he was a key part to our performance.”
Rowett also highlighted the importance of experience in the engine room.
“Having players like Oliver Skipp and Harry Winks in there, then the ball goes wide, comes into them and they’re calm, it just gives us that composure.
“It’s going to be super important for us in matches where things aren’t going so well. Those two can keep the game alive for us and keep feeding the forwards.”
Rowett also addressed the squad’s reputation as a whole, insisting their reaction at the final whistle proves how much they care.
After Luke Thomas planted a last-second header against the upright, nearly every player in blue slumped to the turf in despair.
“You saw the players’ reaction at the end, they were devastated,” Rowett said. “They just want to win games of football.
“The one thing I’ve found coming into the club is it’s very easy to judge and label the players. Sometimes you have to see what they’re about.
“They’ve been receptive to the ideas. They want to get out of the position they’re in. They all recognize it’s not acceptable to be in the position we’re in with the quality we’ve got.
“It’s about doing it on the pitch. We can talk about it until we’re blue in the face but it’s about showing it. I thought second half they did.
“We’ve got some really good players. We just need to find a nice defensive base so that those players in the forward areas haven’t got to score three or four goals every game to win it. We have to be more solid.”
Jibrin
