Peake: A Great Reward For Our Efforts

- Trevor Peake hails his Leicester City Under-18s side after a determined 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough in extra-time on Friday night

- City will face Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup at home later this month as a reward for their efforts in the North East

- Simran Thandi scored a fine winner for the young Foxes but Peake says all of the players deserve praise after a spirited display 

- Peake believes the experience gained by many with the Under-23s Development Squad is starting to reap rewards for his side

Simran Thandi struck after 102 minutes at Heritage Park in Bishop Auckland to set up a quarter-final with holders Chelsea later this month and Peake, reflecting on a spirited performance by his side, couldn’t fault any of them.

“It’s a great result and a great reward for our lads who put a lot into the game physically,” he told LCFC TV. “It wasn’t the most refined game in the world but we’re into the next round which is great.” 

Both sides were reduced to 10 men with Boro losing captain James Cook in the first half before Kairo Arlott-Edwards was then sent off in the latter stages for City but Peake was buoyed by how they handled both situations. 

“It swung the pendulum again,” he added. “We had the advantage but hadn’t made that pay in that period of time. I think it gave the Middlesbrough lads a lift when it went to 10 men each but we dug deep. 

“We had a few scary moments in our six-yard box and it could have gone the other way, we have to be honest. Sim’s not on his own tonight, I can’t think of a player who didn’t deserve to win the game tonight. 

“The work rate they put in, the effort. Okay, perhaps we could have been technically better, but Middlesbrough made it tough for us and we coped the way we hoped we would do when we previewed the game."

Peake believes that the experience gained by many of his players with the Club's Development Squad, at Under-23s-level, is starting to reap rewards for his side with many delivering mature performances in the North East.

He continued: "We’ve still got work to do but we had a game plan which the lads executed very well indeed. We’ve got five of them playing with the Under-23s and their experiences will only improve our chances in this competition.”