Derby U23s Turnaround Pleases Petty
- Leicester City’s Development Squad beat Derby County 2-1 at King Power Stadium
- Shane Flynn and Tawanda Maswanhise netted for the Foxes in PL2
- City had to come from behind following Jack Stretton’s early opener
- Ben Petty was delighted with the second half response
The Rams started the better of the two sides and they were rewarded when Jack Stretton broke the deadlock within five minutes of the encounter getting underway, but the Foxes fought back via goals from Shane Flynn and Tawanda Maswanhise to claim all three points.
Assessing the Premier League 2 victory at King Power Stadium, Petty believes the experience of playing on Filbert Way got the better of their young side in the opening stages but, once they handled the occasion, the hosts were deserving of a second straight league success.
The 44-year-old commented to LCFC TV: “I thought, second half, we were much more like the team that we’ve seen over the last few weeks. First half, we took our time to get going a little bit. They were causing us a few problems with their shape. Once we addressed that, the lads were a lot more positive.
Flynn & Maswanhise Seal PL2 Success Over Derby
Shane Flynn and Tawanda Maswanhise were on target for Leicester City's Development Squad to defeat Derby County 2-1 at King Power Stadium.
“You have to remember that it’s only the first or second time that they’ve played at the stadium, and I think nerves got in the way a little bit. Sometimes when you’re nervous, you’re a bit cautious and we were cautious today in our press and with the ball.
“There were too many backward passes in the first half. Second half, I freed them up a little bit with a full press and tried to take that choice away and it was much better. We’ve overcome that and it’s a valuable three points for us.”
Instantly responding to going a goal down, Flynn’s volley finished off a neat move involving Joe Wormleighton and Khanya Leshabela, before substitute Maswanhise found the all-important winner with seven minutes remaining.
It’s now just one defeat in nine games for City’s upwardly mobile Development Squad who have risen to fifth in the Premier League 2 Division 1 standings ahead of facing Blackburn Rovers back on Filbert Way on Monday evening (7pm BST kick-off).
City’s coach continued: “It was a good response because we hadn’t started the game well. We came back into it very quickly and that allowed us to get a foothold in the game and try to get hold of the ball. I see the character every day but when they can actually show it, when it happens, it’s terrific.
"Against our local rivals, they were never going to make it easy. They were not going to roll over and let us beat them. We had to earn the right. It took us over 80 minutes to break them down and I’m delighted for the boys in there today.
“It’s been a great season so far. Mathematically we’ve hit our target which we discussed at the start of the season so with three games to go let’s see how many points we can get on the board.”
Without some key players, members of the Under-18s squad were called upon and more than stood up to the task, while Petty felt that changing to a back four swung the game in Leicester’s favour, with a combination of work rate and quality able to see Leicester’s youngsters home in the bank holiday heat.
Petty: A Valuable Three Points For Us
Coach Ben Petty summarised his thoughts following the Leicester City Development Squad's Premier League 2 victory at home to Derby County.
“We really missed Sammy [Braybrooke] and Oli [Ewing] and that combative midfield pair,” he explained. “I pushed Lewis [Brunt] in there to do that. He did it for the first team against Watford and he sured it up for us.
"I felt like the shape suited us a lot more. We’ve been flexible this season with a four and a five, so it’s something that the players are used to and it worked well today.
“Players were always going to tire but Will Alves at 16-years-old and Chris Popov and Henry Cartwright as first-year scholars, it’s a very young team and this experience out there will do them the world of good.
“He’s (Popov) got brilliant work rate and he’s done fantastically for the Under-18s. Adam [Barradell] has done some great work with him. It was the plan that he was going to play in the last few games. We gave him 65 minutes today and he’s going to have to go again on Monday, energise himself and recover well.”