Premier League: Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson pleased by 1-0 win at Stoke

Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson spoke of his delight after Leonardo UIloa’s second-half finish secured a 1-0 win away to Stoke City.

The £8m striker’s goal was enough to clinch a first Premier League win of the new season – Leicester’s first in the top flight since 2004 – despite a tough test at the Britannia Stadium.

Pearson’s side found themselves under pressure for large parts of the game, but a swift break on 64 minutes culminated in Ulloa tapping home his third goal in four appearances from Paul Konchesky’s cross.

Leicester now find themselves on five points after a tricky first four opening games and Pearson was glad to see them collect three points for the first time.

"I’m very pleased, to get a first win was always going to be important," he told Sky Sports.

"Certainly, in the games we have played so far, there have been positive aspects in all of those.

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"To finally get three points is going to be very important for the players’ morale because our performances have been of a decent standard so far.

"Today we didn’t play as well as we can do, but showed some real grit and determination to keep the ball out of our own net."

Leicester had an unenviable start to the season, facing Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal in their first three games, but Pearson insists the trip to Stoke had not been earmarked as one they expected to win.

"You take any side lightly at your own peril," he said.

"We always thought this was going to be a very tough game and I suppose in some ways when you play against the real big teams in this division, the players are self-motivated.

"I’m not saying they weren’t today because I think they showed some real qualities but there is a danger of people making assumptions about how difficult certain games are going to be.

"I’m just very pleased we’ve been able to get off the mark with a win and it’s reward for how the players have gone about the season so far. It’s something to build on.

"That’s something that we were aware of when the fixture list came out of potentially how tough the start was, but I don’t really want to go down that route."

Record signing Ulloa had a relatively quiet afternoon up until his all-important goal and, although Pearson is pleased with how quick the striker has settled in, he was keen to spread the plaudits.

Pearson said: "His contribution so far this season has been very important, clearly you need to score goals and he’s got off to a very good start.

"But he’d be the first to acknowledge the contribution of his team-mates.

"If we’re going to be a success this year, we’re going to need everybody in the squad to contribute at their highest level, so far we’ve had that sort of response from the players but it’s still early days."