We’ll Keep Working, Says Justin
- James Justin provided an update on Leicester City’s pre-season so far
- The full-back was speaking after facing Serie B side Palermo on Friday
- The Foxes lost 1-0 in the friendly at Chesterfield’s SMH Group Stadium
- He sees promising signs from the work done in the build-up to 2024/25
Leicester City’s preparations of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign took another step forward with a runout against Serie B outfit Palermo on Friday evening, ending in a 1-0 defeat at SMH Group Stadium.
Naturally, the result was not the most important part of the exercise, but Justin felt that the scoreline could have been very different had City been more clinical in front of goal, both before and after Federico Di Francesco’s strike for the Italian side.
Narrow Defeat For The Foxes Against Palermo
Watch the key moments from Leicester City's pre-season friendly against Palermo.
“We actually played quite well today,” the full-back expressed following full-time in Chesterfield. “Even though we lost, it’s probably the best we’ve played in pre-season. We’re slowly building on what the Manager wants with our patterns of play.
“You know what you are going to get with Italian sides. If they go 1-0 up, they’ll keep the back door shut and they are a well-drilled side. They were really hard to break down, a lot like what we faced last year as well.
“We had some good chances but tonight we just couldn’t stick the ball in the back of the net. On another day, I feel like we’d come away with a win. It’s something that we’ve got to work on, but it’s early days yet and things are going well. We’ll keep working.”
Several weeks of training under the new coaching team has laid the groundwork for what will be a big step up for last season’s Sky Bet Championship title-winners. It’s been an enjoyable start, according to the defender, who cannot wait to put those methods into practice in a competitive fixture.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air,” the 26-year-old explained. “The new gaffer has come in with fresh ideas and wanting to build on what we’ve done last year and I’m really looking forward to the season and how we do.
“One of first things that he said to us was that we had a good last season, but the Premier League is a whole different level and we’ve got to evolve on our ideas and get Premier League ready, that’s been his big mantra so far.
“We’re working step by step to get there on the training pitch. We’ll go away next week and that’ll be a good chance to iron out some creases. Everyone has their own goals and wants to do as well as possible.”