Evans: I do my research
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KIERNAN DEWSBURYHALL says he is desperate for Leicester to produce another FA Cup triumph after missing their historic Wembley win.
The Foxes lifted the FA Cup for the first time in May 2021 by beating Chelsea in the final.
Now Brendan Rodgers’ boys are on the march again and influential Dewsbury-Hall is relieved to be a part of their push for more silverware.
The midfield star did play against Chelsea that season — but only in the fourth round while he was on loan at Luton.
“That was my first taste of the Cup and I have the fire in my belly to do it again,” said Dewsbury-Hall.
“A lot of them have done it but they still have that fire in them to do it again too.
“That is what top teams do, they do it again. I haven’t experienced it properly yet in the squad so I am hoping we can do it again because it is something I’d like to do.
“There is another opportunity to go deep in this. There is no reason why we can’t do it again because we have done it before.
“Several big Premier League teams have been knocked out already. We feel like we have had kind draws which is always good.
“No matter who we get next, it is just about doing the same thing.”
Deserved
Leicester advanced into the fifth round with a deserved win at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.
Youri Tielemans hit the post with a second-half penalty before Sub
Kelechi Iheanacho clinched it when his effort from the edge of the box deflected off Brandon Comley and looped over Saddlers goalkeeper Owen Evans in the 68th minute.
It was the Nigeria international’s 17th goal in 23 FA Cup appearances — the most by any player since Iheanacho made his debut in the competition in 2016.
But Leicester were forced to weather some late pressure after failing to kill the game off.
Walsall manager Michael Flynn, who led Newport to a Cup upset against Leicester in 2019, said:“I am a very proud of the players — not just for the performance but for their application throughout the week.” WALSALL: Evans 9; White 6, Daniels 7, Low 6, Gordon 7; Willmott 6 (Maher 80), Comely 6 (James-Taylor 74), Hutchinson 6 (Songo’o 62, 6) 6, Maddox 6 (Allen 80), Knowles 7; Williams 6 (Wilkinson 62, 6) LEICESTER: Iversen 6; Castagne 6, Amartey 6, Faes 6, Thomas 6 (Kristiansen 63, 7); Tielemans 6, Mendy 6; Maddision 7 (Praet 63, 6), Dewsbury-Hall 7, Barnes 6; Daka 6 (Iheanacho 63,7)
WALSALL keeper Owen Evans saw Youri Tielemans miss a penalty but was still left ruing his luck.
Evans was the League Two club’s man of the match with a string of impressive stops in their 1-0 defeat to Leicester.
The 26-year-old was relieved when Tielemans slammed a second half penalty onto the post.
But Evans was eventually beaten by Kelechi Iheanacho’s 68th-minute effort, which deflected off Brandon Comley.
Contact
“We had a bit of luck for us with the penalty and a bit of luck against us with the goal,” said Evans. “I was concentrating on making sure I went the right way for the penalty and tried to get contact on it.
“I do my research and it paid off because I went the right way. Off the post – we will take that. After the penalty miss it gave us a little bit of a lift.”