King: We’re Working Them Hard

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King: We’re Working Them Hard

Coach Andy King has praised the players’ dedication and attitude as we approach the end of our first week of pre-season training.

2025-07-05T07:00+01:00

by Sam Stevens

Published

05 Jul, 2025

from LCFC Training Ground

King: We’re Working Them Hard

Coach Andy King has praised the players’ dedication and attitude as we approach the end of our first week of pre-season training.

Sam Stevens

2025-07-05T07:00+01:00

King: We’re Working Them Hard

Coach Andy King has praised the players’ dedication and attitude as we approach the end of our first week of pre-season training.

Sam Stevens

2025-07-05T07:00+01:00

King: We’re Working Them Hard

Coach Andy King has praised the players’ dedication and attitude as we approach the end of our first week of pre-season training.

Sam Stevens

2025-07-05T07:00+01:00

King: We’re Working Them Hard

Coach Andy King has praised the players’ dedication and attitude as we approach the end of our first week of pre-season training.

Sam Stevens

2025-07-05T07:00+01:00

Andy King says Leicester City’s players have given 100 per cent so far this summer
The squad reported back for pre-season work on Monday
Peterborough are the visitors to Seagrave for a friendly on Saturday
A live stream of the game is available for free on YouTube and Foxes Hub

Intensity has been the priority so far as we lay the groundwork for 25/26, with demanding double sessions in sweltering summer heat designed to push the squad’s fitness levels.

After a full week of graft in north Leicestershire, City will welcome Peterborough United to LCFC Training Ground this Saturday for a pre-season friendly (12:30pm kick-off) – and the Blue Army can catch the action live for free on YouTube and Foxes Hub.

Speaking ahead of the clash with the Posh, King elaborated on the opening days of training, emphasising that the main goal is to build a solid fitness base, ensuring the players are prepared for whatever the new season may demand.

“It’s been great to be fair,” the Premier League, Championship and League 1-winning former midfielder said. “I’ve had great backing from the staff who have been here and the lads have been brilliant.

“I think we spoke really clearly on day one about how some of the levels last year probably across the board weren’t acceptable for us to be dealing with again.

“Hopefully, when the new Manager comes in, we’re in a good place to hand them over physically, they’re ready to go, and whoever that is can then put their own mark on how they certainly want the team to play, rather than if we spend time working tactically and ignoring the physical, that may then change when the new Manager comes in.

“So it was all about, from my point of view, trying to get the lads into a really good place physically, working them hard, mentally knowing the standards we’re going to set moving forward. We’ve had a good week, a hard week, but really good.”

King believes that Saturday’s test against League 1 opposition will be invaluable, not only for match sharpness but for the mental toughness that comes with facing a competitive opponent so early in the summer programme.

“It's always nice to have a game early doors because the lads want to be back out there and playing,” he added. “I think it’ll be different to what you would imagine with a normal game. We’ve had double sessions all week.

“In season, you taper the training to make sure they’re as fresh as they can be for the game. On this first week, that won’t be the case.

“There will be 20 players who will play, so everybody will play 45 minutes. We’ll change at half-time, but the lads who will be playing, they will have trained really, really hard this week. They’ve done absolutely everything we’ve asked of them.

“What I will say is that the lads who are out there tomorrow have given absolutely 100 per cent this week and they’ll probably need the support of the people there because it’ll be tough for them.”

While fitness remains the priority, King knows there’s no substitute for the demands of competitive action – something you can’t replicate on the training pitch.

He continued: “Ultimately, you can run around the training pitches as much as you like, you can run around poles as many times as you want, the fitness comes when you’re against somebody who you don’t know, tracking his run, he’s tracking my run – and there’s something on the line.

“It’s week one [and] I said after day one that everyone was brilliant. I knew day one would be good because nobody’s touched a ball for four weeks, so everyone’s excited, everyone wants to give an angle, everyone wants to track their runner.

“Can we do it on day three’s double session, day four’s double session, day six, when we’re playing Peterborough, and everyone’s tired? When we’ve had however many training sessions and the legs aren’t there, can we still bring that enjoyment, can we still help our mate out, can see still show the angle?

“They’ve been spot on with all of that, so it’s been really encouraging. It’s 45 minutes tomorrow, the result is not so important, it’s more about the loading and the minutes in the legs so whoever comes in can watch and go: ‘Yeah, I like him, or he worked hard’ and stuff like that and then they’re in a good place to handover.”

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