Mike Stowell expects ‘something special’ from new Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers

Leicester caretaker boss Mike Stowell believes incoming manager Brendan Rodgers will bring “something special” to the club.

Demarai Gray and Jamie Vardy struck to seal a gritty 2-1 win over Brighton as Rodgers watched from the stands at the King Power Stadium.

The 46-year-old signed a deal until 2022 after joining from Celtic earlier on Tuesday.

Davy Propper pulled a goal back but Leicester hung on to rise to 10th in the Premier League.

Stowell said: “He’s just come into the dressing room after the game. He was very positive, bouncing. We’re all desperate to start working with him.

“He said before that he was just going to leave it and observe from up there. He said call the subs yourself and just get on with it but he’s going to bring something special to the club.

“He spoke to the lads and the lads were in awe listening to him. He said ‘I’ve only left to come here for one reason and that’s to work with this group of players’. That speaks volumes for this young group of players.

“We’re going to have a meeting to outline what he expects from us (coaches) and he’ll have the players on Thursday and we’ll go from there.”

Gray scored Leicester’s earliest Premier League goal of the season after 10 minutes but the hosts had to wait until the 63rd minute to double their advantage when Vardy drilled in.

Glenn Murray had earlier missed a sitter with Brighton trailing 1-0 but Propper made it 2-1 within three minutes of Vardy’s strike as Rodgers’ new side hung on.

Gray told the BBC: “We’re all looking forward to working with the new manager. I’ve watched him manage a lot of top sides and what he’s done with young players has been good especially.

“As a club we’ve got a good balance of experienced players and good young players so we’re looking forward to starting.”

Brighton are just three points above the relegation zone and are yet to win in the top flight in 2019.

Chris Hughton’s side are winless in seven and the only team in England’s top-four divisions yet to win this year.

Hughton said: “Of course the game is won and lost at both ends and at the moment we’re not putting away opportunities and so we have to make sure we’re not conceding.

“Those small margins are not going for us at the moment and it’s only us that can do something about it.

“I’m delighted with the character because we didn’t start well. We made some poor decisions. Sometimes there’s such a desperation to do well that you can be a little too hyped up.

“At the beginning we gave the ball away too readily and made some poor decisions but the reaction was really good after that. We gave ourselves a good opportunity to get back on level terms.”