Leicester City manager Steve Cooper has vowed to remain resolute and committed after negative chants from the travelling fans during their Carabao Cup victory over League Two side Walsall.
Despite securing a place in the fourth round via a penalty shootout, the Foxes’ performance left many supporters frustrated, with some vocalising their discontent from the stands.
Leicester made 10 changes to the side, and it was goalkeeper Danny Ward who proved to be the hero, saving penalties from Taylor Allen, David Okagbue, and Liam Gordon in the shootout to secure the win.
However, during the 90 minutes, Walsall came close on several occasions, with Charlie Lakin and Albert Adomah missing big chances that could have seen the hosts pull off a major upset.
The 2,000 Leicester fans in attendance made their feelings known, chanting “Cooper sort it out” and “this is embarrassing” as their team struggled to assert dominance against a side three divisions below them.
The discontent stems from Leicester’s poor form, having secured just one win in all competitions so far this season.
Cooper, who took charge at the King Power Stadium in June, acknowledged the fans’ frustrations but remains undeterred.
“I obviously heard the chanting from the crowd, I’ll own it and you’ll never hear me having any disrespect to fans’ opinions,” he said.
“We have to build some credit with the supporters to do the job, but I knew that anyway. It’s things like that which will make me even more committed to do well, because I’m desperate to do that.
“I want to do well for this football club – I’ve bought into what it stands for, I take that responsibility seriously. Nobody said this season would be easy. It’s going to be a challenging season but nobody is up for it more than me.
“We can definitely play better. I won’t be hiding away from chants, no problem with it. I’m even more committed to that now than I have been before and even that was at its maximum.”
Cooper also admitted that Leicester’s sloppy performance gave Walsall more confidence than they should have had.
“An average performance at best – we gave too much hope to Walsall and the crowd. For all the ball we had, we weren’t enough of an attacking threat and didn’t create enough dangerous moments in the game.”
He added, “You run the risk with changes but it was a very experienced team out there with high level players.”
Walsall boss Mat Sadler, meanwhile, was full of praise for his side’s spirited performance, despite the shootout defeat. “There were large parts where they were extremely rattled,” he said.
“I felt like it was going to happen where something was going to drop but it didn’t quite drop. It wasn’t meant to be. Everything but pride. Limited them to not many opportunities and I’m just proud, proud of everyone connected to the club.”
He continued, “That’s not a normal performance of what we face in the league but we can use it for a yardstick for what we hope is many big games here for the rest of the season and that experience tonight will hopefully help us.”