- Leicester City’s Under-21s beaten by Valencia on Wednesday
- Kian Pennant gave an honest review of the defeat at LCFC Training Ground
- The player told LCFC TV that the team must regroup and work hard to go again
- City’s youngsters are next in action on 19 December when they face FC Porto with a 7pm GMT kick-off
LCFC's Under-21s saw defeat on Wednesday night in the Premier League International Cup as Valencia's two goals were enough for the Spanish side. Pennant was introduced early on in the game in Seagrave as the forward was brought on to replace an injured Chris Popov, only seven minutes in.
Despite being brought on earlier than probably expected, the youngster caused problems for a physical Valencia side and had several opportunities to find the goal.
In a much-improved second half, Pennant was denied from close range when he followed up on Will Alves’ curling effort, and later on in the game, almost forced Iván Muñoz Pereñíguez into turning a low cross into his own net.
After the match, Pennant gave his opinion of the loss to LCFC TV: “I thought we played well to be honest. I think as a team we pressed well and worked them really hard, and we were just unfortunate we didn’t get the three points today.
“We changed the press in the second half to be more aggressive, and the team stuck together and worked well.
“Valencia come from a different culture, they’re very physical so we had to deal with it in different ways.”
“We just need to keep working hard on the training pitch and regroup, start doing our drills and making it more competitive in training to head into the next game with the aim of getting three points.”
Towards the end of his interview, Pennant congratulated his team-mate Sammy Braybrooke, who made a first team appearance only the night before, as the men’s first team ran out 3-0 winners against Newport County in the EFL cup.
“It’s great to see Sammy [Braybrooke] making his debut," he added. "I’ve worked with him from such a very young age, so congratulations to him and it’s great to see the manager’s trust in youth.”