Leicestershire

Image source, Getty Images

Leicester City head coach Marti Cifuentes was left "frustrated" after his side gave up a 96th-minute equaliser to draw at home to 10-man Middlesbrough.

Jordan Ayew's penalty in first-half injury time had them on course for only a second win in 10 league games until they were pegged back with the last attack of the match.

The draw ended a run of three successive defeats and while not what they wanted as they remain down in 13th in the table, Cifuentes was happy with many aspects of the Foxes' display.

"I'm very frustrated," the Spaniard told BBC Radio Leicester.

"It's a very cruel end, especially in a game where the guys showed a great attitude, great commitment, great work ethic. It's a tough one to take.

"We were very close to the three points. We were playing against a team that is in a good dynamic and is doing well at the start of the season and there are definitely things we need to improve. But in terms of energy and how the attitude was from the players, it was top.

"It's important to have this foundation in this league and if we can add the things that we can add, we can just get better."

"I think we will be a little freer in the way that we approach Middlesbrough, because they have been doing so well this season, but make no mistake it is a huge game and then we have Norwich after that - who are really struggling.

"These next two games are huge for Marti Cifuentes."

Owynn Palmer-Atkin is joined by former Foxes defender Matt Piper and Lox from fan channel Blue Tinted Glasses as they reflect on the 2-0 defeat by Blackburn and look forward to what to expect when Leicester face Middlesbrough on Tuesday (19:45 GMT).

Leicester will be seeking to get their promotion hopes back on track on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) when they welcome Middlesbrough to the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes have now lost their past three games in the league, and have registered just one win in five - they are 14th in the Championship.

Meanwhile, automatic promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough suffered a blow last time out, when Watford put three past them in just Boro's second loss of the season.

• Leicester went on a 14-game unbeaten run in the league against Middlesbrough between 2003 and 2017 (W6 D8), but Boro did the double over them in the 2023-24 campaign when the teams last met.

• Middlesbrough beat Leicester 2-1 in their most recent visit to the King Power Stadium in February 2024, but have not won consecutive league visits to the Foxes since 2000-01 and 2001-02 in the Premier League.

• Leicester are winless in their past six midweek (Tue/Wed/Thu) league games (D1 L5), since winning 3-1 at home to West Ham United in December 2024.

• Middlesbrough have won just two of their past 20 away league games against opponents that were relegated from the Premier League the season prior, beating Norwich in November 2022 and Leicester in February 2024 (D8 L10).

• Leicester manager Marti Cifuentes has lost all three of his league meetings with Middlesbrough - but has won both of his two meetings with Boro boss Rob Edwards, doing the double over his Luton side with QPR last season (2-1 both home and away), after the second of which Edwards stepped down from his role with the Hatters.