Dewsbury-Hall Underlines Benefits Of Blackburn Test

- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall says Leicester City boosted their base fitness levels during their 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers
- The Foxes went ahead through Daniel Amartey, but were pegged back by Derrick Williams’ header
- Dewsbury-Hall put in a fine performance in the heart of midfield

With a week to go until the Foxes begin their 2020/21 Premier League campaign, they contested their third and final fixture of pre-season on Filbert Way.

City drew 1-1 with Tony Mowbray’s side, but it is the match minutes that they accrued that will be of most value, says Dewsbury-Hall.

“It was a tough game,” said the youngster. “We knew that Blackburn were going be a tough test. They've obviously been in pre-season a little bit longer than us and played a couple more games.

“We knew it was about trying to get 90 minutes of play and getting the fitness levels up ready for next week, and I thought we did that. They brought a good team and gave us a good game. We got out of it what we wanted to get out of it, which is promising for us.

“Obviously, we've not been able to get as many games in and pre-season hasn't been as long, so it's definitely about trying to get as match fit and match sharp as quick as possible. And with good games like that, it's only going to benefit us going into the Premier League.”

Blackburn began their 2020/21 season with a Carabao Cup success over Doncaster Rovers last weekend, and Dewsbury-Hall believes City will gain plenty from facing a side that have already made a return to competitive action.

“They've had a couple more games, so a lot more players have played 90 minutes and played a lot more minutes,” said the dynamic midfielder.

“You can tell that they're ready for the start of their season, they've started their season and they're all sharp, so that would have only benefitted us because it pushes us right to the end.

“For the whole 90 minutes, we had to dig deep and towards the end when they got the goal, we had to really show what we've about and I thought we did that at the end.”

One of many Academy stars on show at King Power Stadium, Dewsbury-Hall, who notched up 90 minutes, was thrilled with the involvement of the Club’s younger generation of players.

He added: “[It's] a massive positive. It's a big opportunity to show the gaffer that we can play for the first team and that we're ready to play.

“You have to take every game as a big opportunity to try and impress. And that's the aim for me especially as I've been here since I was a kid - to break into that first team.

“It would be a dream come true if I could do that, but I've just got to take each game as it come and I thought today, I did quite well.”