Leicester City boss delivered this very honest verdict on Sunderland win and how it played out

Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca admitted that his side weren't at their best at the Stadium of Light but believes fatigue was the key reason behind their challenging second half.

The Foxes had come into the game having lost their last three league games but dominated the opening exchanges of the game, taking a crucial lead through Jamie Vardy's header. Sunderland improved significantly in the second half and dominated the contest, but Maresca said the three points were the most important thing and believes his team are learning to show a different side to their game.

He admits fatigue is a concern heading into the closing weeks of the season but added that his team could have moved even further ahead in the first half.

"Especially after three defeats in a row, it was important to win the game tonight," he said. We didn't play as well as we did in the three previous games which we lost, but in this moment the most important thing is to win. Also, as a team, we probably need to grow and learn to win in different ways like tonight. We suffered a lot in the second half but in the first half we created a lot of chances especially at the beginning, we miss some good chances.

"For me, it's very easy [to assess the game]. We tried to analyse many reasons why but we are reaching the end of the season and some of the players are tired. We have many players who in the last two or three years, for many reasons, injury etc - they didn't play a lot. So now it's about recovery and finding that energy to win games. In the second half we dropped a lot as a team, we were defending too low but the reason for me was fatigue. Especially in middle of the park, I think we were just quite tired in the second half and it changed the game.

“The way they suffered together as a team, this is an important thing. I just said to them, if we want to improve as a team, we also need to suffer together and win games in an ugly way like tonight.”

Leicester face play-off chasing Hull City in their next Championship fixture on Saturday.