Foxes answered questions in Stockport win - Martin
Foxes answered questions in Stockport win - Martin
Andrew Aloia - BBC Sport, East Midlands; Owynn Palmer-Atkin - BBC Radio Leicester... See moreMon, September 14, 2026 at 1:21 PM UTC
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Leicester City's win at Stockport was just their second in six games since dropping down to League One
Russell Martin has said Leicester City answered their critics by beating Stockport County in a seven-goal thriller on Saturday.
The one-time Premier League champions and manager Martin were widely panned after a 4-0 defeat by Oxford United at the King Power Stadium a week earlier left the club 18th the third tier and its lowest ever point since joining the Football League in the Victorian age.
Martin, who last week said criticism aimed at him had "become really personal", felt his side "learned a lot" from how they overcame a Stockport side that had started the day third in League One after beating Wigan Athletic 4-0 just seven days earlier.
"I loved how much fight, resilience and togetherness we showed - everything we probably got questioned on last week, we showed that today," Martin told BBC Radio Leicester after the 4-3 win.
"We have to be better, but also we played some brilliant football against a really good team.
"We have to show this level of togetherness, resilience and aggression all the time."
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Martin made a number of tweaks to the side after defeat by Oxford, with John Lundstram and Warren O'Hara, as well as Wales international Liam Cullen, coming in to "add experience" to what is now a more youthful Foxes sides afte a summer clear out of high-paid players who were part of back-to-back relegations.
Cullen's first goal for the club since arriving from Swansea in the summer gave Leicester an early lead.
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And while the hosts levelled through Jack Diamond, a double from Emil Riis – his first goals for the club after his own summer arrival from Bristol City – and a Lundstram header on what was his Foxes debut had Leicester 4-1 up after 52 minutes.
Ollie Norwood and Kyle Wootton scored in quick succession to get Stockport back into the game but, while Martin admits Leicester "ended up defending way too much", they hung on for what was just their second win since dropping back into League One.
"It means everything to win," Martin added.
"We scored four goals and looked a real threat, so I'm really happy about that.
"We have to be flexible and adaptable, and having some men and experience on the pitch helped a lot. Just their voice, aggression and intensity really helped the young guys."
To Danish forward Riis, it was a victory and performance that showcased Leicester are capable of more than the possession-heavy, passing football that has been widely criticised.
"We dug deep and fought as a team," Riis said. "That is what we needed last week and we showed that.
"We needed to fight more as a team, win second balls, do the dirty part of football as well.
"We can play beautiful football, but we also need to be a horrible team to play against and that is what we were talking about. We showed that at times."
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