Enzo Maresca’s tactical tweak which hurt Preston North End and inspired Leicester City’s win

Preston North End defender Greg Cunningham felt Leicester City ‘turned the screw’ in the second half of Wednesday night’s 3-0 win for the Foxes.

Ryan Lowe’s men suffered their second defeat of the Championship season, with the relegated side scoring all three of their goals in the second half at the King Power Stadium. North End had frustrated the Foxes over the first 45 minutes and had the best opportunity of the match through Duane Holmes - who placed wide from inside the box.

Leicester, who had won eight out of nine heading into the game, broke the deadlock just before the hour mark as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall tucked home from a tight angle. Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench and doubled Preston’s lead, before Dewsbury-Hall made it three in the 90th minute. Cunningham - who made his first start of the campaign for PNE - noticed a slight tactical change from the home side after the break, but felt the final score line was still harsh on the Lilywhites.

“I think so,” said Cunningham. “It just shows that they are a top side - and they were very clinical on the night. I thought we restricted them to limited amount of chances and were defensively solid. I felt we could’ve gone in at half time one-nil up and - for the possession they had - we would’ve probably deserved it. I thought we were more threatening on the break and that was part of the game plan. You come here and you know they are going to dominate the ball, with a lot of short passes for the stats or whatever.

“They controlled a lot of the ball but we were waiting for that loose pass and we were going to be a threat on the break. We had a few chances like that in the first half and if we’d gone in one-nil up, I feel it would’ve been deserved. We did limit them; I don’t think Freddie had much to do at all first half. And then second half they just kind of turned the screw. They changed their style a little bit... their tens were making a lot more threatening runs on both sides.

“It was just kind of pinning us back a little bit and you are just trying to stay solid and see out the pressure. But, we ended up conceding and then you are in that balancing act of: ‘Do we go for it here? Or do we just hang loose for a bit?’ I think you have to be sensible with it and just let the game pan out a little bit longer. But look, they are a good side. Three-nil is a tough result to take, but we can take some positives from the game and we have to dust ourselves off - it’s a quick turnaround for us to get ready for Ipswich on Saturday.”