Leicester City captain Wes Morgan confident of EPL triumph
Leicester City captain Wes Morgan is confident of securing the club's first-ever English Premier League (EPL) trophy this season and believes that his teammates' experience of winning the Championship two years ago will prove to be handy.
Leicester won the Championship – the second tier of English football – to gain promotion to the EPL in 2014. Although Morgan admitted that the EPL is much tougher, he still feels that the experience has taught the Leicester players how to maintain the winning momentum.
"It was just momentum (in 2014). We kept winning games, in fantastic form, full of confidence. We went into games knowing we could win and we were doing so by big margins. It is hard to compare that to the Premier League.
“The games are much tougher, and they are not as frequent. There is a lot of preparation going into games, a lot of thought. We approach games in the way to maybe stop the opposition first, then try to win in different ways," Morgan was quoted as saying by the Guardian on Monday.
"The experience of going up from the Championship will help us this time round. The lads are full of confidence to keep it going. We are approaching it one game at a time, not getting carried away thinking, 'If we win the next three or four games, we've done whatever.'
"We try to take it one game, right that's ticked off, then prepare for the next one. We're not thinking we need to win the next three of five. That's the way we probably looked at it in the Championship," the 32-year-old defender added.
A solid defensive performance has been one of the crucial factors behind Leicester's dream run to the top of the EPL standings this season. They defeated Southampton 1-0 in their last match to record their fourth successive win and ninth clean sheet this year.
Morgan's combination with the experienced Robert Huth in the centre of the Leicester defence has proved to be a successful one while fullbacks Danny Simpson and Christian Fuchs – who were not regulars in the starting XI at the beginning of the season – have excelled both in defence and in attack.
"We understand each other, we know each other's jobs. It is a lot easier when you have a sense of each other's roles and abilities, strengths and weaknesses. I have to say it is more of a team defensive performance. It is not just us two at the back keeping clean sheets.
"We have fullbacks in the right positions at the right times, making important blocks and interceptions, headers. Simmo (Simpson) was unbelievable at that against Southampton. He was in some key positions to clear the ball. You might look at me and Huthy as the reason we are keeping clean sheets but it's definitely a team effort," Morgan said.
The Jamaica international, who represented his country in both the Copa América and CONCACAF Gold Cup, admitted that he is struggling with the hectic schedule. But with the EPL entering the decisive final phase, he is determined to keep going.
"I had no rest in the summer, constant football. I came back, had two days training and was back into the new season. It has been constant ever since. I try to get my rest in when I can. The gaffer (manager Claudio Ranieri) looks after me. He gives me extra days off throughout the week if possible. You have to keep going. It's been tough but I feel okay and I'll keep going," he asserted.