Russell Martin feels ‘fundamentals’ are lacking after Leicester defeat

Russell Martin admitted Leicester City need to look at themselves in the mirror following a 2-1 defeat by Burton Albion.

Gary Bowyer’s men twice punished some woeful defending by the former Premier League champions during the opening stages, with Matthew Dennis and Kgaogelo Chauke netting in the fifth and 25th minutes.

Charlie Webster was instrumental in creating the first while Chauke’s effort was a shade fortuitous, with Kyran Lofthouse’s shot deflecting into his path. But Albion were worthy of their lead, with Oliver Skipp shown a straight red card on the 29-minute mark for a foul on Curtis Tilt.

Wes Burns pulled one back for the hosts three minutes before the break, but City were unable to find a way past their dogged opponents, although Harry Souttar and Tommy Watson went close.

Martin said: “One team wanted it during the opening 25 minutes and were hungry. We weren’t, definitely not hungry enough.

“After that, we were but we were down to 10 men with a nothing to lose mentality. We were dominant for periods after that, which isn’t easy when you’re down to 10. But it’s hard at that point.

“We have to have some really honest conversations. I take responsibility as a manager, so if I haven’t prepared them psychologically well enough, we must look at that.

“But fundamentals are fundamentals, regardless of how you play. Those don’t change.”

Martin added: “We can’t play the way we want to play without those fundamentals. And they just weren’t there to begin with.

“We’ve already watched the goals back as a group and highlighted bits that we don’t want to be us. We have to make sure that is our worst 25 minutes of the season.”

Bowyer traced Albion’s success to their work on the training pitch ahead of visiting the King Power Stadium.

He said: “The lads were fantastic in terms of their preparation. We thought we could come here and do what we did.

“They’ve got a wonderful manager in the way he wants to play so we knew we had to be really at it. We knew we might have to ride our luck at times, which we did.

“But in terms of the spirit and togetherness, the way they were accountable for each other, the way they took ownership and the togetherness they showed, I thought the boys were fantastic.”

Bowyer added: “I was actually pleased they scored just before half-time, because it reminded us we were still in a game and it gave them a bit of an edge. I told them that in the dressing room.

“If we’d have gone in at 2-0, we might have been tempted to rest on our laurels a little bit. But we kept the right mentality.”