McSweeney: We Deserved Better

- Leicester City’s Development Squad lost 3-1 to Chelsea in Premier League 2 on Friday
- Young forward Jake Evans scored Leicester’s solitary goal at Kingsmeadow
- Coach Leon McSweeney reflected on a third successive defeat for the Foxes
- Aston Villa are next up at LCFC Training Ground on Friday (7pm GMT kick-off)

The young Foxes fell behind to Harvey Vale’s opener before Jake Evans’ equaliser restored parity at the break. It looked to be heading for a draw at Kingsmeadow until two late Chelsea goals from Vale and Deivid Washington saw the home side claim all three points.

McSweeney was fairly pleased with the way the team responded to going behind and the overall display, despite a third straight defeat across all competitions, which leaves City 16th in the PL2 standings with nine points from seven games.

“I’m frustrated but immensely proud of the team’s performance,” the 41-year-old. "The two late goals probably flattered Chelsea a little bit, I thought we deserved better. I was disappointed for the guys; I’m gutted that they didn’t get a positive result.

“Our game plan was executed excellently by the players. We just needed to make a little more of the key transition moments as there were goals there to be had. For the intensity, the amount of energy and their work rate, you have to do that when you go to Chelsea, we know that.

“Also, the quality on the ball, using the pivot, the back three and then getting five on their backline, I thought there was a lot of work involved and there was no shortage of effort to implement what we asked.”

Evans has now scored three in four PL2 matches, netting a well-worked goal to get Leicester back on level terms in the capital, and City’s coach is keen to see more of the same in the coming weeks, starting against Aston Villa on Friday.

“That’s what we worked on,” McSweeney revealed. “It was actually a role reversal where Kian Pennant came off into the pocket, turned and then slipped Jake [Evans] in. It was just tremendous quality to get on the half turn, perfectly weighed through ball, a great run into the box and then a fantastic finish.

“We’ve become accustomed to seeing that from Jake this season. He’s done that a few times for us so it’s an area of his game that we want to get him in these key attacking positions because he can produce.

“But that’s the challenge that I’ve set to the players. We have to do that against the likes of Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League Cup on Monday.

“We were a bit flat in both fixtures and if we perform like we did tonight, there’ll be no issues with the team moving forward and I hope the players take heart from tonight. It’s over to them with what they can achieve.”