Leicester City’s path to success will be a “rocky road” but they will be better placed for coming through what Steve Cooper hopes will be their only difficult patch of the season.
City take on Bournemouth this Saturday (3pm kick-off) following a six-match winless run to start the campaign. While the need for that first victory is growing, their tough spell gives them lessons to learn from, making longer-term success more viable, Cooper has suggested.
That tallies somewhat with his first season in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest. At the City Ground, Cooper endured a winless run of nine matches, with five victories from 10 then following. Equally, late in the season, Forest went 11 without victory, only to respond with three wins in five.
“We’re very much trying to become a Premier League team again,” Cooper said at his press conference on Thursday. “It’s a Premier League club in every way shape or form, we know that, and the recent history tells you that. But at this moment, we have to make sure we deliver a Premier League team performance. Some bits have been really good. Other bits we need to get better at. That’s the challenge for the team, and for me and the staff.
“There’s nothing better than coming through a difficult time. When you do, you’re in a much better place because of the lessons that took place. It sometimes doesn’t feel it, when results are not going your way and elements of the performance you’d like to be a bit different. It’s not always easy to take.
“But there’s also an awareness that some really important learning takes place, and when you do get through it, it does allow you to have a better mid-to-longer term. That’s what I keep saying to the players: what an opportunity we have now to get through this little spell, and hopefully it is only a little spell, to come through the other side of it and allow us to kick on.
