Leicester winger Demarai Gray relishing facing his former employers

Leicester winger Demarai Gray views Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth-round clash with his old club Birmingham as a good opportunity for the Foxes to “get back on track”.

Brendan Rodgers’ Premier League high-flyers have impressed for much of the season but are winless in five matches, failing to score in their last three.

They face a Birmingham side who head to the King Power Stadium on a 13-match unbeaten run and currently sit 15th in the Sky Bet Championship.

Gray, who joined Leicester from Birmingham in January 2016, told LCFC TV: “It will be a tough game because they’re on a good run.

“I think they’re (13) games unbeaten, but it’s a good opportunity for us to get back on track as well.

“Personally, it’s obviously nice to play against my former club because I still haven’t done that yet, so I’m looking forward to it.”

The Birmingham-born 23-year-old came through the Blues’ youth ranks, making his senior debut in 2013 aged 17.

Gray added: “I’ll always have love for Birmingham. I grew up there from when I was 10 until 19, so they’ll always be in my heart.

“As I say, it’ll be nice to play against them at home and play in front of those fans again as well.”

Regarding Birmingham’s fourth-round meeting with Coventry, Gray said: “I was buzzing because it was them or Coventry, so obviously Madders (James Maddison) wanted Coventry and I wanted Birmingham!

“I wanted it to be away as well because I do want to go back there. I haven’t been back there since, but either way, I’m just looking forward to it.

“I came through there, and I still live 10 minutes from the training ground, so it’s one of those places. If I wanted to just pop in, I’d see the same faces from before.”

Leicester got to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, in which they were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Aston Villa.

On the FA Cup, Gray said: “It’s one of our targets and something that we’re taking seriously.

“Obviously, we fell short in the semis in the Carabao Cup, but we’ve got another opportunity to get to another final again hopefully.

“We’ve always showed, and we all know we’re fully capable of getting to a final step.

“It was tough watching the (Carabao Cup) final knowing that we could have been there, but that’s football.

“There’s always another opportunity and hopefully we can progress a few more games and get to a final.”

Leicester will again be without top-scorer Jamie Vardy (calf), who boss Rodgers says “should be fine” for the league match against Villa next Monday.

FourFourTwo Staff

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