A Real Togetherness, Says McSweeney

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A Real Togetherness, Says McSweeney

Leon McSweeney credited City’s Development Squad with getting the job done against Coventry City to progress in the Premier League Cup.

2025-02-03T16:30+00:00

by Sam Jones

Published

03 Feb, 2025

A Real Togetherness, Says McSweeney

Leon McSweeney credited City’s Development Squad with getting the job done against Coventry City to progress in the Premier League Cup.

Sam Jones

2025-02-03T16:30+00:00

A Real Togetherness, Says McSweeney

Leon McSweeney credited City’s Development Squad with getting the job done against Coventry City to progress in the Premier League Cup.

Sam Jones

2025-02-03T16:30+00:00

A Real Togetherness, Says McSweeney

Leon McSweeney credited City’s Development Squad with getting the job done against Coventry City to progress in the Premier League Cup.

Sam Jones

2025-02-03T16:30+00:00

A Real Togetherness, Says McSweeney

Leon McSweeney credited City’s Development Squad with getting the job done against Coventry City to progress in the Premier League Cup.

Sam Jones

2025-02-03T16:30+00:00

Leicester City’s Development Squad defeated Coventry City 3-0 on Monday
The Foxes youngsters have progressed into the Premier League Cup knockout stages
Coach Leon McSweeney reflected on a good night’s work
Josh King, Jake Evans and Jeremy Monga were the goalscorers in Seagrave

A 3-0 victory at LCFC Training Ground on Friday evening secured a second-place finish in Group B for the young Foxes, who will compete in the last-16 alongside group winners Nottingham Forest having picked up 10 points from their six matches.

Josh King, Jake Evans and Jeremy Monga all found the net in Seagrave, much to the coach’s delight, while it was an assured defensive display at the other end of the pitch.

“It really was a complete performance and what set the foundation for that was a real willingness from the team to fight for each other,” the 41-year-old expressed. “There was a real togetherness out there because we said to them at the start, we need to be full of attacking intent and quality within.

Congratulating the opening goalscorer.

“We wanted to encourage that and take risks in the opposition defensive areas and the worst thing that can happen is that you lose the ball. If you lose the ball, let’s have a real instinct to counter press and win the ball back.

“To have a clean sheet and score three goals, they carried out our instructions, but I’ll always ask for more from the group and keep pushing them, because there were four, five or six on offer tonight.

“It’s a fantastic night’s work for the group.”

The pressing element of Leicester’s game was a pleasing aspect to Friday’s performance, typified by King’s goal on the turn, a move started by winning the ball back in midfield. That set the tone just six minutes in and relived any pressure.

McSweeney continued: “It was a must win game and it’s nice to have games like this because you see the guys performing under pressure. That set the base for everything else and the quality that we showed in possession.

“They changed a few things to try and counteract what we were doing but the lads found a solution. In everything we were working on the movement, opening the passing lanes, finding the no.8s in the pockets and switches to the wide midfielders.

“It was just the willingness to run and pass forward which was so pleasing to see and what I’ve been asking for. I work with the group and I always say that I believe in them more than they believe in themselves at times.

“I know how good they are on the training pitch and how good they have been in games this season. It was a great step forward in terms of building that consistency in terms of getting the performance but also matching it with the result.”

Replicating the same level in the upcoming Premier League 2 games is high on the agenda, with a visit to Norwich City awaiting on Friday (8pm kick-off).

“That’s always the challenge,” City’s coach added. “Dealing with young players, you have to take account of inconsistency. That’s part and parcel of development. We demand a lot of the guys because we see the quality and they know they have quality.

“It’s just about building towards consistency; that’s our mantra this season. When you go into the attacking third, can you ask questions of the defence? Sometimes we’re guilty of coming out too easily at times but we always want that possession with a purpose and have an end product at the end of it.

“We certainly got that tonight. Hopefully, as the season progresses, we’ll continue to build on that.”

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