’I want to build a legacy at my hometown club’
DEWSBURY-HALL DOESN’T WANT CITY TO ‘STAGNATE’
A DEFIANT Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will not let Leicester City “stagnate” as he looks to build a legacy at his hometown club.
The midfielder, who signed a new five-year contract this summer, is set to be a key player for Brendan Rodgers’ side in the forthcoming Premier League campaign after making his breakthrough last season. Following his first Premier League start in December, Dewsbury-Hall was in Rodgers’ line-up for all but one league match through to the end of the season, when he was named the players’ player of the year.
Now he is established in the team, the 23-year-old is looking to kick on.
However, he is not just focused on himself, but the club as a whole.
Growing up in Shepshed, and in the club’s academy from the age of eight, Dewsbury-Hall’s passion for City shines through.
After setting up both goals in the 2-1 friendly win over Preston on Saturday, he said: “I want to build a legacy, not only for myself but for the football club.
“We’ve got a vision at this club to keep improvin,g and I’ve got a vision as a player to keep improving.
“I don’t want the football club to stagnate, we’ve got too good a dressing room to do that.
“We’ve got big aspirations for the future and it’s just about implementing them now and improving season on season.
“We’ve got the team to do it and we just need that mentality, that winning mentality. Top players have that. It’s about not resting on our laurels now, especially for me after signing this deal.
“I just want to have a really positive impact over the next couple of years and see where it takes us.”
Dewsbury-Hall is in a different place to this time last year, when he was on the fringes of the City team, battling to even get appearances as a substitute.
He played just four minutes of the club’s first 10 Premier League fixtures last season.
Now, with greater prominence in the squad, there is added responsibility for the midfielder.
But that is something he is relishing.
“I want that,” he said. “I want to be a top player and while you are a top player, you have pressure on you, you have to perform. It was nice to come in and not really expect anything and people saw what I can do, but I want that pressure on my shoulders.
“That is what the top players have because you can’t afford to slip up then, you can’t afford to rest.
“The more pressure, the better for me because I just use that as motivation to show people how good I can be.
“This season I am probably going to be expected to kick on again and that is exactly what I plan to do because it would be stupid of me to rest on my laurels.
“I am playing at a great club in a top league.
“I have got so much I want to do in this game and still that I haven’t done yet so it is about continuing to work hard, keeping my head down and seeing what I can do.”