‘Enjoyable To Be Back’ - Winks Looks To Tottenham Clash

- Leicester City host Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League opener
- King Power Stadium will host the 8pm kick-off on Monday evening
- Harry Winks previewed the Foxes’ top-flight return against his former club
- The midfielder cannot wait to get going again after an intense pre-season

Returning to the top-flight after a one-year absence, it all kicks off for the Foxes against Winks’ former side, Tottenham Hotspur, with the pair set to battle it out at King Power Stadium on Monday evening (8pm kick-off).

Although the England midfielder is savouring the prospect of coming up against ex-team-mates on the opposing side, there is only one thing in his mind when it comes to the game itself.

“It's going to be an enjoyable night, hopefully, being back in the Premier League,” Winks said earlier this week. “It's going to be an exciting game for me personally to play against my former club.

“It’s the first time I've played against Tottenham since leaving, so it's going to be a mixed emotional night for me. Seeing some old faces will be nice as well, but it will be business as usual, the same way I approach every other match.

“Hopefully we can come away with a positive result, because obviously I want to be part of the team that wins. There's nothing I want more than to beat them and to win, of course, because there's nothing better than starting the season off well.”

The summer schedule has taken the Foxes to France and Germany, and having got up to speed fitness-wise, as well as taking on the Manager’s ideas, Winks feels ready for the season to begin.  

The 28-year-old is confident that the camaraderie built up during the Sky Bet Championship title-winning campaign, meanwhile, will serve Leicester well during the rigours of the Premier League.

“We've been in for a while now, preparing in pre-season,” he explained. “We just want to get underway and start getting into the rhythm of matches every week and thankfully Monday will be the beginning of hopefully a really good positive season for us.

“We have good players, we have a good side and you can get carried away sometimes when you go into the Premier League, thinking that you need to change too much, and that could sometimes be to your detriment, because we've got a really good squad.

“We've also got a really tight knit group of players who all get on with each other really well, and we've got a good balance. It's important that we remember that, especially going into the season, because sometimes it's about grinding out results.

“Having a team-mate next to you who you can trust, who you have a relationship with - we certainly have that, especially from last season, which we built a strong foundation from. And I'm sure the fans will be excellent as they always are.

“Going into the Premier League, everyone's going to be excited, because when you're on the pitch against a good side, it's important you have everybody and pulling in the same direction and any little bit of positivity and any bit of support we can get, that could be massive in helping us get a result for all the matches that we play.”

All times BST.