Enzo Maresca says he has urged Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to score more goals after he netted twice in Leicester’s comeback win over Coventry in his first Sky Bet Championship game in charge.
The former Manchester City coach was satisfied with the result, which saw Dewsbury-Hall score twice in 10 minutes late on to seal victory after Coventry captain Kyle McFadzean had put Mark Robins’ side ahead early in the second half.
Maresca revealed he had urged Dewsbury-Hall to get into the opponents’ area more.
The 24-year-old midfielder only scored twice as the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League last season.
The result was a headed equaliser and a spectacular winner with three minutes to go.
Maresca said: “At the beginning when I came in, I checked the numbers of the players and I told him he has better quality to be able to score more and make more assists.
“The only way to do it is to arrive more often in the box. Kiernan scored here because he was there in the area.
“We are happy because he scored and we won and that’s the most important thing.”
Maresca also pointed to the fact that his team maintained momentum until the latter stages, despite Coventry’s constant threat.
The Italian coach said: “I told the players that Coventry was a team that almost won promotion in May. We needed to be mentally strong.
“So to be 1-0 down and then win the game, the guys showed a lot of great effort.
“We conceded a lot of goals from set pieces last season, I knew this before I came. We conceded again here and it was not easy to come back for us.”
Asked if he was concerned about the number of chances Coventry created, Maresca responded: ‘I’m always concerned. The feeling of winning was unbelievable, but we have to improve.”
Coventry manager Mark Robins predicted that Dewsbury-Hall will will be one of the top players in the Championship this season.
But he admitted there was a feeling of what might have been had his side taken more than one chance after creating so many openings.
Robins said: “If we’d taken one more, we might have won by two or three. We’re trying to be on the front foot and carrying a threat is something that’s really important to us.
“We had chances to score, but such is life, we’ve not taken them.
“I think Dewsbury-Hall is going to be one of the best players at this level. Someone also told me Leicester had £100million worth of talent on the bench – which is nice.
“It’s always disappointing to lose especially from a winning position but when you look at the quality of Leicester, there’s a lot of Manchester City in the movements.”
Plymouth Argyle 2-2 Watford: Two-goal Gray rescues point for Rooney's side
Andre Gray scored twice against his former club to salvage a point for struggling Plymouth Argyle as they drew 2-2 with Watford on Friday.
Gray curled in an equaliser in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time to seal a crucial point for Wayne Rooney's side in their bid for survival in the Championship.
The visitors made a quick start at Home Park when Ivorian striker Vakoun Bayo bundled in a cross from Yasser Larouci only eight minutes in.
Plymouth did, however, equalise against the run of play in the 23rd minute when Lewis Gibson's long ball into the box was met with a spectacular volley from Gray.
Watford regained the lead before the break when Imran Louza's free-kick was knocked back by Mattie Pollock, with centre-back Ryan Porteous on hand to steer the ball home.
But just as it looked like Watford would go home with all three points, Gray picked up the ball on the edge of the area and fired home a stunning effort beyond Daniel Bachmann.
Tom Cleverley's Watford sit in fifth place and trail leaders Sunderland by five points, while Plymouth are 17th with 17 points from 16 matches.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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