Andy King believes Leicester City’s Emirates FA Cup win over Derby County has the potential to relaunch their season after setting up a Fifth Round trip to League One side Millwall.
Two stunning strikes from Wilfred Ndidi and Demarai Gray sealed the win, but the Foxes required extra time to battle past a resilient County side at the King Power Stadium.
Captain King had earlier opened the scoring moments into the second half for the Premier League champions, though Abdoul Camara’s deflected free-kick saw the Championship side take the clash to an extra 30 minutes in their Fourth Round replay.
And with their Premier League defence so far proving a struggle, King feels an Emirates FA Cup run could be exactly what the doctor ordered.
“It was important to get a win, kick start some form to take into the league,” he said.
“It’s been a tough few weeks, we’ve faced a lot of criticism but tonight shows the fight we’ve got in the squad and the win can hopefully kick us on in the league.
“We’ve gone through a couple of rounds so why can’t we make another journey out of this season?”
Chances were few and far between in the first half, with Ahmed Musa narrowly missing a cross while Ron-Robert Zieler had to keep his wits about him at the other end.
But the game exploded into life just 60 seconds into the second half, as Gray’s inviting cross was excellently headed back by Marc Albrighton, leaving King with the simple task of nodding in from all of a yard.
That prompted a response from County, with a high-boot giving Camara a free-kick in the ideal position, finding the back of the net via a deflection from full-back Ben Chilwell.
But with both sides pushing, the inevitable extra time came, unable to be separated after 180 minutes of football.
Yet just four minutes after coming off the bench, Ndidi proved the Foxes hero, ghosting his way through to unleash a fantastic strike in off the post, while Mitchell had to have his wits about him to prevent a second for King.
Leicester were not to be denied a third though – and in some style too, as Gray blitzed his way through the defence to score a magnificent individual goal, the perfect reward for his excellent night at the King Power Stadium.
But it proved a step too far for Derby County and boss Steve McClaren, proud of his players despite being left to rue the extra 30 minutes played in the East Midlands derby.
"I don't think either team wanted a replay and we definitely didn't want extra time.
"There are some very tired players in the dressing room. It was always going to be hard work. We had a go and can't fault the players. We ran out of steam in the end.
"Tonight was about the squad - the fringe players and the injured players coming back getting a game. We missed our opportunity in the first game. I couldn't fault the players."
Leicester City: 21 Ron-Robert Zieler, 13 Daniel Amartey, 27 Marcin Wasilewski, 29 Yohan Benaloune, 3 Ben Chilwell, 24 Nampalys Mendy, 10 Andy King, 11 Marc Albrighton, 14 Bartosz Kapustka, 22 Demarai Gray, 7 Ahmed Musa
Substitutes: 26 Riyad Mahrez for Kapustka 81, 19 Islam Slimani for Musa 91, 25 Wilfred Ndidi for Mendy 91
Substitutes not used: 4 Danny Drinkwater, 12 Ben Hamer, 20 Shinji Okazaki, 28 Christian Fuchs
Manager: Claudio Ranieri
Goals: King 46, Ndidi 95, Gray 114
Derby County: 35 Jonathan Mitchell, 2 Cyrus Christie, 5 Jason Shackell, 6 Richard Keogh, 25 Max Lowe, 17 Julien de Sart, 18 Jacob Butterfield, 15 Bradley Johnson, 20 Abdoul Camara, 8 Ikechi Anya, 22 Nick Blackman
Substitutes: 23 Matej Vydra for Johnson 53, 7 Johnny Russell for Camara 74, 28 David Nugent for Blackman 82
Substitutes not used: 1 Scott Carson, 10 Tom Ince, 12 Chris Baird, 16 Alex Pearce
Manager: Steve McClaren
Goals: Camara 61
Referee: Mike Jones
Attendance: 31,648
