Leicester manager Marti Cifuentes praised his players’ toughness after witnessing his team clinch a well-earned 2-0 victory against midlands rivals Birmingham.
Goals from Abdul Fatawu and Ricardo Pereira handed the visitors their first Sky Bet Championship loss since their promotion from League One.
Tasked with guiding his side back to the Premier League at the first opportunity following last season’s relegation, Cifuentes was thrilled with the grit his squad displayed.
“I am happy because it is never easy to win in this league against a good team,” Cifuentes said. “It was hard, but we had to grind it out and credit my players for doing that.
“We showed commitment, determination and resilience to see it out.
“We did not concede many chances and our keeper did not have too much work to do.
“I am pleased for my players and the young ones – (Louis) Page and (Jeremy) Monga – had really good energy. They will help us for sure, but that was also about everyone.
“We can get better at controlling games, for sure. But we showed good qualities.
“Abdul is very important for us. I am delighted for him because he had a tough season last time and he has a smile on his face now. So that’s good.
“The target is always to have the best squad possible and, when the deadline passes, hopefully I will be as pleased as I am now.”
Despite not delivering a dazzling display, Leicester were the stronger side for most of a match filled with effort but, aside from Fatawu’s finish and Monga’s brilliance, lacking in creativity.
The Ghana international, who attracted interest from Everton earlier this summer, gave Cifuentes’ team a swift start when he linked up with Louis Page to capitalize on hesitant defending.
Ethan Laird faltered when the ball was played forward, and his uncertainty spread among the visitors’ backline. This allowed Fatawu, scoring for the second consecutive game, to cut inside and delicately place the ball past Ryan Allsop.
Birmingham, aiming for consecutive promotions after dominating League One, fought their way back into the contest in the closing stages but failed to test the Leicester defense.
Jay Stansfield’s absence proved detrimental as several opportunities went unconverted before Ricardo Pereira sealed the hosts’ rise to third place.
The Portuguese defender celebrated joyously but acknowledged that 16-year-old Monga deserved the acclaim for brilliantly setting up the chance.
After suffering their first league defeat of the season, Birmingham manager Chris Davies said: “We are disappointed to lose the game. I thought we had the lion’s share of it and were strong and dominant throughout.
“I’ve seen a lot of Leicester and they couldn’t get a rhythm going. But we didn’t do enough where it mattered, maybe, in that final third.
“A lot of it was good, though. However, it was a poor opening goal to concede from our perspective.
“We recovered well from that, though. Then the second one was poor as well.
“All in all, though, I’ve had to pick the players up in the dressing room and remind them that, aside from the result, there were a lot of positives out there.
“We hesitated for their first one. Still, to be fair, there was quite a bit for their lad to do when he got the ball.
“But again, I like the way that we recovered. Last season, we were in League One and they were in the Premier League. We came here and dominated so for me, that’s a good sign.”