'It’s All About Performance For City's Under-18s'
- Leicester City Under-18s travel to meet Aston Villa on Saturday morning (11am kick-off)
- City's youngsters will be playing their first U18 Premier League fixture of the season
- Coach Adam Barradell says the players are in good shape ahead of Saturday's game
- The Foxes ended the 2019/20 season in fourth position, with the league cut short due to COVID-19
The young Foxes travel to Bodymoor Heath Training Ground to face Aston Villa on Saturday morning (11am kick-off) for their first league fixture since Saturday 7 March.
Barradell, who is overseeing the Under-18s for the first time this season, says everyone is looking forward to getting back onto the pitch in a competitive environment after some solid preparation.
“It’s been brilliant to be honest," Barradell said, when speaking to LCFC.com. "We’ve started to get all the group back together, we’ve had boys that have been with the Under-23s and the first team, which has been a fantastic experience for the individuals, but we’re fully prepared for the first game.
“Pre-season’s been good, we’ve had four pre-season games, so to have the squad back together ready to go into the first game, everyone is looking forward to it.
"It’s been a long time coming, obviously with the current situation of the pandemic, but everyone’s really excited to get going.”
City sat in fourth position in the table when 2019/20 was cut short and, while Barradell wants to emulate that strong league position this time around, he will be focusing on the development of the players.
"It’s a great opportunity," he added. "We’ve got a fantastic group of staff and players around the Under-18s, so for me personally, it’s one that I’m really looking forward to.
"I think it will be a good test for us. Obviously they’re always good games between Villa and Leicester, having played there in the past through the various age groups.
"They have an excellent academy there and it’s a test we’ll be fully prepared for.
“First of all it’s all about performance really. We definitely want to do well in the league and if you’re doing that, it’s always a positive.
"It’s about the performances too, developing the individual players so that they go on to progress into the Under-23s and then into the first team.
"It will also be about putting our style of play onto each game, that will be very important for us."
All times BST.