Ruud van Nistelrooy has given everyone at Leicester City a wake-up call - including me
Leicester City winger Stephy Mavididi insists there has been a mentality switch in the dressing room since Ruud van Nistelrooy walked through the door at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes broke a streak of five-successive defeats in emphatic fashion on Saturday as they thumped QPR 6-2 to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Leicester currently sit 19th in the Premier League but the cup win could pump some momentum into their race for survival as they head into the second half of the campaign.
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Mavididi went 14 matches without scoring before last weekend but bagged a second goal in as many games – and his fourth of the season – on Saturday, which helped Leicester re-establish their lead against their Championship opponents.
He hopes that results in the league will soon match up with what he believes are improved performances since Van Nistelrooy’s appointment.
The 26-year-old said: “In his first meeting, it was kind of like a wake-up call to the lads – and myself included – and is pushing all of us to reach our maximum potential.
“He’s come in and gave an opinion on us. Someone from the outside looking in has a different opinion and put certain things in place. It’s paying off in performances, it’s just the results that we need to pick up.
“It (the win) was massive. We said in the changing room we have an important week coming up, hopefully we can kick on.
“The mentality has changed and he’s giving us confidence and reminding us of our potential and reminding us we have a good team and good players so that’s the main thing, the mentality.”
Leicester now switch their attention to the relegation battle where they face two home matches over the next week against Crystal Palace and Fulham.
Mavididi admitted the hard work could not stop here, adding: “Confidence is a big thing. Hopefully we can build off that today and we have an important week coming up.
“With the hard work in the week, hopefully we can pick up some results. Just keep working, it’s the only thing we can do you know, just keep working and believing.”
