Pearson hails French connection

03 January 2010 12:06
N'Guessan and Kermorgant combined to grab a late winner against the Swans at the Walkers Stadium on Saturday to take the Foxes into the fourth round.[LNB]The hosts found themselves behind in the 10th minute thanks to David Cotterill's stunning strike but they equalised six minutes before half-time through Andy King.[LNB]Chances for a Leicester winner went begging in the second half and Pearson opted to bring on N'Guessan and Kermorgant with 15 minutes remaining.[LNB]The switch paid dividends with just a minute of normal time to go when Kermorgant nodded Ryan McGivern's free-kick back across goal and N'Guessan thumped a header past Swans goalkeeper Dorus de Vries.[LNB]Pearson said: "I always emphasise it is a squad game and I thought the substitutes did very well for us when they came on.[LNB]"Paul Gallagher was excellent when he went on and of course our French connection did very well when they went on.[LNB]"It's nice to have players like that to put on when you want to do something different."[LNB]Pearson admitted that City had at first struggled against a Swansea side who showed plenty of ambition.[LNB]He said: "It was a tough game. We were better in the second half after we had got to grips with their system.[LNB]"They are a decent side and we had to change somewhat to win the game. We had to press them higher in the pitch to affect the quality of their passing."[LNB]Cotterill gave the Foxes an early fright when he picked the ball up in midfield and unleashed a 30-yard thunderbolt into the top left corner of Chris Weale's net.[LNB]De Vries kept Swansea ahead with a superb double save on 28 minutes when he first beat away King's goalbound shot and was then quickly on his feet to block Matt Oakley's follow-up effort.[LNB]The East Midlanders levelled on 39 minutes when Matty Fryatt held up the ball before feeding Wales' international King who drilled home from 18 yards.[LNB]De Vries was then Swansea's saviour again on 68 minutes when he tipped over an angled shot from Fryatt, before the introduction of N'Guessan and Kermorgant proved decisive.[LNB]The Foxes needed a win to avoid a fixture pile-up, having already had two games frozen off over the festive period.[LNB]Pearson added: "It was a good outcome and I'm glad we haven't got another fixture to cram in."[LNB]Swansea manager Paulo Sousa revealed after the game that five of his players - Leon Britton, Ashley Williams, Nathan Dyer, Andrea Orlandi and Federico Bessone - were all unavailable because of illness.[LNB]The Portuguese boss said: "Today was the best 11 we could have put out. Those we left out all had the flu.[LNB]"I'm down because I'm out of the cup. It's a prestigious competition and brings money into the club."[LNB]The Swans boss singled out Cotterill for special praise for his stunning strike.[LNB]Sousa added: "It was a great strike from David Cotterill. We work hard to score goals from outside the box and it is something we need to do more often."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk