Iheanacho: Leicester City Must Be At Their Best Against Brentford

Leicester City must stamp their own style of play on Sunday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Brentford, says Kelechi Iheanacho.

The striker scored against the Bees in this round of the competition to secure a 1-0 triumph last season.

Iheanacho believes City will face a different challenge at Brentford Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Having successfully navigated a fourth round tie away to the Bees last campaign, City again head to the capital to face a side that are vying for promotion to the Premier League having narrowly lost out in the Championship Play-Off Final in 2019/20.

The scorer of City’s only goal of the game in their last clash with Brentford just under a year ago was Iheanacho, who prior to Sunday’s match spoke of the need to be ruthless going forward if they are advance to the fifth round.

“We played them last time in the FA Cup and probably the team has changed a little bit,” Iheanacho told LCFC TV via video call.

“They were a good side last time we played them, and they have good quality players as well, so they might hurt us if we’re not careful. We need to just be ourselves, play our own game and make sure that we get the win.

“We need to take our chances when they come in the first half, so they don’t take us to the second half.

“They’re at home, and sometimes when you don’t take your chances, it gets hard in the second half. You have to cope with it, so we need to take our chances when they come.”

Nigeria international Iheanacho rounded off a brilliant move in last term’s win at Brentford, converting James Justin’s cross after a sensational pass from Dennis Praet found City’s dynamic full-back.

“Of course, it’s a good memory,” the striker continued. “We won that game and we went through, and I scored. I have to mention that great pass from Dennis Praet. It was absolutely outstanding, that pass.

“That was the pass that brought the goal, and it was a great cross from JJ (James Justin) to pick me out, and I finished.

“It was a good game. They gave us a tough game, they nearly scored but Wardy (Danny Ward) kept us in it. It was a great game and we finished on top.”

While the Foxes are yet to lift the FA Cup, Iheanacho knows just how important the competition is, and as they travel to Brentford in a rich vein of form, there’s good reason for encouragement for the campaign ahead.

He continued: “Everyone speaks about it. It’s a fantastic competition which I’ve played in several times.

“It’s a very decorated competition in this country, so I think everyone would love to win the FA Cup.

“We have a great squad to achieve that, we just need to keep going, keep doing our best and keep taking it one game at a time to make sure we get it right.

“Every competition, we take it seriously. The Premier League, the FA Cup, the Europa League – this one is no exception. We are serious. The manager is serious. The players are serious.

“We are all taking every competition seriously. This FA Cup, we beat Stoke and we had a great game. We are ready.”