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There is “room for improvement” at Leicester City with goalkeeper Mads Hermansen hoping praise of his future performances is not so “hollow”.
Hermansen has been one of the stars of City’s campaign so far, the Dane showing off his excellent shot-stopping ability. He kept his first clean sheet of the season against Bournemouth last time out, City winning for the first time to move onto six points and up to 15th in the table.
For Hermansen, City needed to pick up one or two extra points over their first seven games to make it a satisfactory start to the campaign. As for his individual performances, the praise has been nice, but not really what he wants.
The 24-year-old made headlines with his display at Arsenal as he spectacularly kept the Gunners out with four high-class saves during the second half until he was beaten in added time. Writing in his BBC Sport column, Troy Deeney called it “one of the best performances I've seen from a goalkeeper on a losing team in my life”.
“It has been quite nice,” Hermansen told Tipsbladet, reflecting on the first few Premier League outings of his career. “On a team level, we might have liked to see a point or two more on the account, but it has been as it has been. Overall, it has been okay, but there is also room for improvement.
“(At Arsenal) it was busy, but that's how it is sometimes. I'm happy that I was able to contribute with a few saves, but of course it ended with zero points, so there wasn't much to celebrate afterwards either.
“It's nice to hear that people think I've done a good job, but as you say, the best effort from a losing team's goalkeeper, that's nice, but it sounds a bit hollow, one way or another. Not the statements, you know, but the feeling for me. It's nice to be able to contribute, but of course I'm tired of the fact that we couldn't hold on to the one point.”
Hermansen is now away with Denmark for the next week or so as they play Spain and Switzerland in the Nations League. The 24-year-old is still awaiting his senior international debut, having been an unused understudy to Kasper Schmeichel for 20 games over the past 18 months.
He added on his wait for a Denmark cap: “Whether it's annoying or not, I don't know, but I always strive to play. I'm doing what I can to prove to the coaching staff that I'm the one to play. I also think that I have played some good games so far this season, but it is clear that they are what sets the team.
“It is the way it is, and it is also a bit of a goalkeeper's fate that you sometimes have to have a little patience. But I work as hard as I can every day and try to play my game.”