Petty: Youngsters Rewarded For Hard Work & Quality

- Leicester City’s Development Squad defeated Blackburn Rovers 4-1 on Monday
- Terell Pennant, Chris Popov, Thanawat Suengchitthawon and Lewis Brunt netted at King Power Stadium
- The application and desire shown by the players pleased coach Ben Petty
- City are fifth in Premier League 2 following a three-game winning streak

Backing up a 2-1 triumph against Derby County last Friday, the young Foxes produced a fine performance to defeat Blackburn Rovers 4-1 at King Power Stadium on Monday and extend their winning run to three Premier League 2 Division 1 matches.

Controlling the game from the off, the hosts were eventually able to make their dominance count by scoring three times in the second half, with both the performance and result – their biggest margin of victory so far this term - pleasing Petty.

“It’s a great return,” the 45-year-old commented to LCFC TV. “The lads have worked tirelessly over the weekend, and they’ve got their just deserts, I think. They’ve kicked on from Friday and produced a much better performance tonight and it was a well-deserved win.

“We tried to talk a lot about Friday’s game and what we could learn and what we could do better. I thought the lads showed a lot more maturity tonight. They didn’t let the stadium get to them as much, controlled the ball well and I thought some of the football we played tonight was exciting.”

Terell Pennant got the ball rolling with a fine header ahead of the half-time interval, before Chris Popov’s stunning free-kick doubled the advantage. Thanawat Suengchitthawon added the third late on, before a stoppage-time spot-kick from captain Lewis Brunt rounded off the scoring.

City’s Under-23s coach continued: “I’m delighted for Terell. He’s worked really hard recently to get himself back in the team and he’s worked on his fitness, done extra sessions and he saw the rewards tonight. He worked well and we got a good 70 minutes out of him, and he scored himself a cracking header.

“I thought Chris’ overall performance was fantastic and you can see his willingness to run and close down and cause the opposition problems by getting in behind. I thought him, JT (Tawanda Maswanhise) and Terell were a real threat to Blackburn, and I think they would have caused anyone a problem tonight."

Maintaining their position of fifth in PL2, Leicester’s Development Squad have closed the gap on the teams ahead as they look to finish the campaign strongly. There is still room for improvement, however, and Petty is confident that the team will continue to learn and grow.

“I’m very proud,” he added. “It’s been a long season, but we’ve had to work really hard to establish a style of play. It’s a very young team and they’ve needed to be nurtured at times.

“They’ve had one or two rocky games but overall, we’ve had a lot of faith in them and we’re seeing the rewards of having some really good young players in the team now.”