Be More Of A Threat, Says Cooper

- Leicester City were beaten 1-0 by Augsburg in Saturday’s pre-season friendly
- Keven Schlotterbeck headed home the only goal of the game early on
- Steve Cooper reflected on a tough workout against the German Bundesliga side
- The Foxes are two weeks away from their Premier League opener

The Foxes completed their week in Bavaria with a friendly against the Bundesliga outfit at Illerstadion in Kempten on Saturday, which ended in a 1-0 scoreline in favour of Fuggerstädter, courtesy of Keven Schlotterbeck’s 10th-minute header.

A worthy workout for Cooper’s men, which saw 20 players fielded in total, it also gave the 44-year-old another look at how his squad is shaping up heading into the final two weeks of the pre-season schedule, as build-up to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign intensifies.

“For all of the control and possession that we had in the game, I think as a team we need to show more desire to score a goal,” Cooper said, analysing the performance against the German side. “To play with the ball like we did and get into the positions that we did, it’s to create and score goals and that’s the purpose of our game. That will always be our idea.

“We want to be at the top end of the pitch and be exciting and be threatening the goal. The last two games, I don’t feel like we’ve done that enough if truth be told. For all of the good positions we’ve got into, we’ve got to be more of a threat.

“It’s a team thing, with set pieces as well, we’ve conceded from one, which is never okay but it’s something that we can learn from. There’s the performance and there’s the result and we want to perform in a way to win games but to do that, you have to have a toughness about you and a ruthlessness at both ends.

“There’s learnings from that and also duels. We know what’s coming in the Premier League, it’s a massive step up and when you’re playing one vs. one and you’re combating up against your opponent, you’ve got to win more duels than you lose. I think that needs addressing a little bit from today as well.

“The guys are really engaged and working really hard every day, really trying to take on the ideas and a lot of them are coming out but we need to score goals and stop conceding. That’s where we’re at.”

With the opening fixture against Tottenham Hotspur on the horizon, City’s Manager outlined the benefits of facing such tough opposition at this stage of their schedule and why he is looking forward to returning to Seagrave for a further period of solid preparation.

Cooper continued: “It was a test that we needed, a step up in game, there's no doubt about that. Augsburg are a good Bundesliga team and that’s the sort of competition we want to be playing now.

“You want to win games in pre-season, but it’s never too much of a disaster when you lose, as long as you know why and it is helping to get ready for the start of the season.

“We’ll look forward to getting back to the training ground now and really stepping up our work. We’ll be working hard on the pitch and off the pitch and hopefully we’ll continue to progress ready for that first game.

“We know where we want to improve. The step up is a huge one and the guys that have been there before, including myself, need to remind ourselves of what is coming. And for those for are going in for the first time, we’re really trying to prepare them for how it feels. We’ll keep going at that and we’ll continue with our work.”