WE WON’T BE OUT-FOXED BY VILLA AGAIN

Albrighton out to avenge that semi-final defeat

MARC ALBRIGHTON admits Leicester underestimated Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup semifinals and has vowed not to repeat the mistake.

The third-placed Foxes booked their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals at home to Chelsea with victory over Birmingham on Wednesday.

Next up they face Villa for the third time in 2020 when the relegation strugglers visit in the Premier League on Monday night.

Albrighton (above) is out for revenge against his old club after admitting Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes were stunned to be knocked out of the League Cup semis. Villa, 19th in the top flight, earned a 1-1 draw at Leicester at the start of January before beating them 2-1 at home in the second leg to reach Wembley with a last-gasp Mahmoud Trezeguet winner.

Albrighton said: “We’ve noticed in previous games that we have taken them too lightly.

“We got ourselves in a great position to be in the semi-final and we fancied ourselves against them.

“But you’ve got to be at the top of your performance at this level. You can’t drop by any percentage and we probably did that in the two games.

“With the position they’re in, we probably took the home leg for granted. It was always going to be difficult going there with the atmosphere that was generated and we have come up short in the end. “They are a good side when they want to be and it is going to be another tough game on Monday.” Leicester thumped Villa 4-1 away in December for their ninth successive win in all competitions as part of a red-hot run. Albrighton said: “Maybe we thought that we were going to do that again, but it was never going to be the same.

“They played a totally different formation, and it was a totally different game. We came up short.

“But that’s gone now and we need to look forward. We’ll be full of confidence and looking to put things right.”

Albrighton is keen Villa survive after coming up through the ranks there as a boyhood fan of the club.

He added: “I can’t fault the Villa fans, they’ve always been good to me.”