Marti Cifuentes has major Leicester City problem to solve involving £23m man - Foxes are showing worrying trend | OneFootball

The Foxes' centre-forward options have failed to step up to the mark in the Championship

Leicester City's return to the Championship has been extremely mixed, with Marti Cifuentes eventually hoping to steer the club in the right direction following his summer appointment.

However, the Foxes' 2-1 defeat to Hull City proved that plenty of glaringly obvious issues at the King Power Stadium must be rectified if they are to emulate the 'class of 2024' and bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Despite the uncertainty which clouds over the East Midlands side from a financial sense, it was no surprise that they were made one of the immediate promotion favourites by many supporters and outsiders, regardless of the major squad overhaul which took place during the Spaniard's maiden pre-season and transfer window.

Cifuentes became extremely highly-rated in the eyes of many within the Championship circle during his previous stint at Queens Park Rangers, during which a possession-based style, complimented by an extremely aggressive press, enabled the R's to claim plenty of scalps and steer themselves to mid-table comforts during his one-and-a-half year stint.

The 43-year-old is fully aware of the pressure which comes alongside the Leicester vacancy. Indeed, his reign comes just nine years after the club were crowned Premier League champions, and just three after their most-recent European venture.

Yet, if the Foxes are to eventually stand out from a really congested Championship crowd, he must resolve a key attacking issue which was put to him post-match at the MKM Stadium.

Majorly concerning Leicester City trend continues in Hull City defeat - Marti Cifuentes issues verdict

Despite residing in the play-off places before the start of play, it's also fair to say that the newly-relegated side haven't blown any opponents out of the water in the opening two months of the season.

That is, despite the fact Cifuentes has, undoubtedly, what should be one of the second tier's most feared attacks, on paper at least.

Although modern-day icon Jamie Vardy was among those to depart the club in the summer, the likes of Patson Daka, Jordan Ayew and summer loanee, Julian Carranza, all possess traits that can help swing a tight encounter the way of the Foxes, much like their supply line of Abdul Fatawu, in particular.

In fairness, a return of 15 goals in 11 games is still the fourth-highest in the division, and Cifuentes, along with supporters, will somewhat be pleased that said tally is being somewhat shared around the team.

However, those who are paid, more than anything, to stick the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis, are failing to do exactly that, with a worrying trend of one goal coming from the aforementioned natural centre-forwards being put to Cifuentes in his post-match press-conference.

When asked for his thoughts on the matter, he said: "Obviously, we want to score more goals and for our strikers to score goals.

"I'm more concerned, today, about the fact that we created 12 shots in the second half and only one was on target.

"We are getting there, into the last third and we got the chances. But, we need to be more clinical.

"This has been a pattern, last Saturday against Portsmouth, we had 12 shots in the first half and only a handful were on goal. We need to be better," he added.

It was a much-improved second-half display from his side at the MKM, with Aaron Ramsey's stunning effort reducing the arrears, but a total of four shots on target across 101 minutes only drummed home the aforementioned concerns further.

The solitary goal scored by one of the Foxes' recognised strikers came through Ayew in the 2-2 draw with Oxford United on September 13th. Remarkably, the Ghanaian is only two strikes behind the club's top scorer and his compatriot, Fatawu, who has scored thrice in 11 games.

The experienced frontman was the better performer out of himself, Daka and substitute Carranza on Tuesday night, laying on Ramsey's strike after some impressive hold-up play.

Meanwhile, Daka's woes at the King Power appear to have continued, some four years after completing a £23m switch from RB Salzburg. Despite the aforementioned fee, an overall return of 23 goals in 133 appearances tells the tale, with only seven of those coming in the Championship too.

The Zambian cut a frustrated figure as a goalbound effort in the first-half was cleared off the line by Regan Slater, before Feyenoord loanee, Carranza, was unable to grow into the game after his introduction off the bench.

Remarkably, the Blues still rank inside the top five when it comes to goals and shots on target per match. Yet, after a frustrating month or so, which has culminated in a fall to seventh, it could get worse if the aforementioned trio are unable to significantly boost their output.