Confidence Starting To Flow, Says McAteer

 - Leicester City’s Under-21s qualified for the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens Quarter-Finals
- The young Foxes finished top of Group C after two wins and a draw
- They will now face Tai Po Football Club in the Main Cup last-eight on Sunday
- Kasey McAteer gave the players’ perspective on a productive day for the team

Topping Group C, beating Hong Kong Football Club and Newcastle United and remaining unbeaten after an opening game stalemate against HKFC Captain’s Select, the Foxes progress into the Main Cup Quarter-Finals.

Scoring four goals and conceding just one, it was a positive start to the tournament for the side coached by Ben Petty out in Hong Kong, as McAteer explained to LCFC TV.

“It's brilliant,” the midfielder commented following the morning session on Saturday. “We showed a lot of resilience today. In the first game, we got a decent start, but we were a bit frustrated with ourselves not to get the win.

“But then in the last two games, I think we showed our quality, especially in the second game, we showed we could score goals. And in the third game, we showed we can come back from being 1-0 down, so the boys are really happy in there. And we look forward to tomorrow.”

Level against the Magpies heading into the final seconds of the last group fixture, Lewis Brunt struck a sensational goal which sent Leicester to the summit of Group C. Tawanda Maswanhise is currently top goalscorer with three to his name, while Wanya Marcal-Madivadua also added his name to the scoresheet.

The 21-year-old explained: “Brunty scored the last goal, which was a peach of a finish, and we got three goals in the second game. So, there's goals in our team, the likes of JT (Tawanda Maswanhise) and Wanya [Marcal-Madivadua]. And Brunty as he's shown.

“We've got goals in the team, and we've got with legs in there as well, people who can run and people who will fight. So, we're really happy with today.”

The conditions proved a real challenge - with temperatures topping 30 degrees Celsius in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay district – but one that the players were able to overcome, ahead of another day of action to now prepare for. It’s a quick turnaround to Sunday morning’s quarter-final against Tai Po Football Club.

“It's baking out here,” he admitted. “But the games are quite short. You get your work in, get your fluids on, get your sun cream and you're be fine. But we've sort of got used to the humidity today.

“And obviously we've been training and stuff, so we're getting used to that now. We've just got to deal with it and move on to tomorrow. We're going to get ourselves into the pool now, get some recovery into us, have some food and get the feet up tonight to just chill before tomorrow's games. We look forward to that.”