‘Going Into The Tournament Strong’ – Brunt On Soccer Sevens

- Lewis Brunt speaks ahead of the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens competition
- Leicester City’s Development Squad arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday
- The tournament begins on Saturday morning with the group stage
- Brunt is looking forward to getting started after Thursday’s friendly

Leicester City’s Development Squad touched down at Hong Kong International Airport on Wednesday and have spent the last couple of days acclimatising to the new environment over in East Asia.

With humidity levels reaching close to 90 per cent, the conditions have been difficult to adapt to, as well as playing on a seven-a-side pitch in 14-minute games, as the skipper explained to LCFC TV following Thursday morning’s friendly against Chun Fung.

“It’s been warm, the weather has definitely been challenging,” Brunt revealed, speaking at the tournament’s launch event in the city centre. “But it’s been a good first day or so getting settled in and I’m enjoying it.

“The weather is the biggest factor. But also the pitch with it being seven-a-side on a hot astroturf, that’s never nice. It was a good friendly this morning to get the legs going after having a long flight out here.

“It’s definitely different. But I think the main thing you have to remember is that there’s no offsides, so that’s a massive factor. It can seem like quite a big pitch, so we’ll have more training in the next few days and go into the tournament strong.”

The 22-year-old has been able to provide his team-mates with some insight into what to expect, having played at the tournament with Aston Villa’s Under-21s back in 2019, winning the Plate competition.

He continued: “I was here a few years ago with Villa and I think the best advice I’d give is that it’s going to be hard work with the heat and the pitch size. It will be tough, but with the ball we’ve got top players so it’s just going to be about who can work the hardest.”

With three games to play on Saturday, it will be a hectic day for City’s youngsters, as they face current holders Newcastle United, as well as Hong Kong Football Club and HKFC Captain’s Select.

“That will be the biggest test,” the defender added. “We’ll listen to the sports science guys and the medical staff and hopefully we’ll be able to prepare to get through a large amount of games in a short space of time.

“I always say the toughest games are coming up against the English sides, just because the standard and the players they’ve got. It will be a tough game against Newcastle but hopefully we can top the group.”