Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Leicester City – Stephy Mavididi hits Foxes winner

Both sides have had campaigns to forget, but the death of Ewood legend Parkes last week has put that into perspective, and Rovers’ rise out of danger under O’Neill had also engendered optimism among the home fans.

It was Leicester who looked most likely to score in a lacklustre first half, as Rovers keper Balazs Toth did well to keep out Harry Souttar’s header before parrying Mavididi’s effort. He then performed a wonderful double-save from Jannik Vestergaard from the resulting corner.

Louis Page also tested the Hungary international goalkeeper, while at the other end, Blackburn finally roused themselves only for Jakub Stolarczyk to save well from Moussa Baradaji as he cut inside from the left flank and shot.

O’Neill shook things up at half-time by sending on Todd Cantwell and Taylor Gardner-Hickman, and their control of midfield transformed the game.

Baradji failed to snap up a rebound from Stolarczyk’s save, Yuki Ohashi headed over the bar and Ryan Alebiosu’s curling effort was well saved by the Leicester keeper.

Cantwell dipped a volley over the bar and Gardner-Hickman grazed the post with a 25-yard drive, but the arrival of Jordan Ayew gave the Foxes more threat up front, and he went close himself before teeing up Mavididi inside the box.

The midfielder’s initial attempt was blocked, but when it rebounded to his feet he quickly guided it beyond Toth.