LEICESTER City boss Nigel Pearson praised his players for the way they recovered from conceding a penalty and a goal in the first four minutes against Ipswich Town.

The Foxes manager refused to say whether his side deserved all three points in yesterday’s 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium.

But after Michael Chopra’s missed spot kick and Lee Bowyer’s fourth minute opener, Pearson was pleased with his side’s response – capped by Paul Gallagher’s second half equaliser from another penalty.

He said: “After conceding so early on, the response from the players was very positive. But we still have a lot of work to do to get the performances to a level where the opposition do not relish coming here.

“We have pressed them and tried to do everything we could without breaking them down again in the second half.

“They (Ipswich) have had a really tough time with seven losses and then come back with two wins and have been more confident in themselves.

“For ourselves, it is frustrating, but I want to look at how we move this thing forward rather than bemoan what the problems are.”

And of big-spending Leicester’s stuttering first half of the season, Pearson added: “We have under-performed and I think we all agree that we are not where we want to be.

“We have to be winning more games but this division remains very close. We are only a handful of points off the play-off places.”