Petty: Disappointed Not To End 2016 With A Win

- Ben Petty reflects on Leicester City Under-23s' 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest on Friday afternoon

- Jeff Schlupp and Raul Uche were on target at Loughborough University for the Foxes ahead of a Christmas break

- Petty bemoaned City's defending at times but was positive about the overall performance in the Premier League Cup

- The Foxes don't play again now until the New Year meaning they will have a prolonged rest period over the next three weeks

The Foxes took the lead through Jeff Schlupp early on but two quick-fire goals by Fred Nielson and Ben Brereton turned the match on its head before Raul Uche’s equaliser 20 minutes from time.

Petty, the Under-23s assistant manager, said it was frustrating to have lost the lead in the first place but commended his players for their resilience to salvage a draw at Loughborough University on Friday afternoon. 

He said: “We’re disappointed. We wanted to finish with a win together, especially after going a goal up. It was a great goal by Jeff but I felt we were really sloppy going into half time. 

“It was a decent response in the second half but, overall, we are a little disappointed. Pleasing aspect was the number of crosses we got in because that was in our game plan. 

“But we don’t feel as though we defended well enough today. Their No. 9 caused us a lot of problems and we need to be better than that. We’ve been focusing a lot on the defensive side of the game.” 

Reflecting on what may have cost City a victory, Petty added: “Today again it was individual errors. We felt today that the two goals we conceded were poor and that gives you a mountain to climb. 

“They’ve had a lot of games. We feel this has come at a good time. They are still training over Christmas but this gives us a good opportunity to rest up and come back fresh in the New Year.”