U18s Report: Derby County 2 Leicester City 1

The young Foxes played a second consecutive away fixture, having lost 2-1 to Sunderland in the league last time out.
And despite City having a number of chances to take the lead, it was Derby who would go on to win the clash with two quick-fire goals.
“The first half was pretty uneventful – the game was goalless at half-time,” Under-18s manager Trevor Peake told LCFC.com. “Max Smith-Varnham made a great save at his near-post during the first half, and their goalkeeper also did well to get down to a set-play headed by Darnell Johnson.
“In the second half, within 10 minutes, we were two goals down. They converted a penalty and then scored another goal.
“We replied within five minutes through Matty Miles to make it 2-1, but we couldn’t get another goal.
“It’s our third 2-1 defeat in a row now, and in that situation, you do go and chase the game a bit as you get towards the end.
“They performed better than us in the two penalty areas, really. We had a couple of chances which we didn’t convert. Derby were really direct when they got in the box.”
Peake’s side next host Reading in the U18 Premier League at Belvoir Drive on Saturday – a side City know well have faced them twice already this campaign.
“At the start of our really good run earlier in the season, we beat them 2-1 away from home,” Peake added. “In our next meeting, just after Christmas, we didn’t perform to our capabilities and lost 3-0. They’ve always had a very strong academy so it won’t be an easy game, that’s for sure.
“Against Derby we put in number of Under-17s, just like we’ve done over the last couple of weeks. As we get towards the fixture with Reading, we’ll decide which players will be involved, and we’ll be preparing throughout the week for it.”