Work Harder In Possession, Says Petty

- Coach Ben Petty reflects on the Leicester City Development Squad's 2-1 reverse to Derby County
- The Foxes have uncharacteristically lost three games in a row in Premier League 2 Division 1
- Petty could not find fault in the effort of the players at Loughborough University Stadium
- However, more quality is needed in the final third, Petty says 

The Foxes fell to a 2-1 defeat by Derby County at Loughborough University Stadium on Friday evening, after Darragh O'Conner's opener was overturned by a Jack Stretton brace.

Petty - the Club's Assistant Senior Professional Development Phase Coach - says City's youngsters must do more in possession if they are to get back to playing at their highest levels.

"We felt it was always going to be a very competitive game," he told LCFC TV at full-time in north Leicestershire. "Obviously, [it was] a local derby. There was a lot at stake.

"The penalty is a big one because [if] we score the penalty and then get the second goal, you've got a comfortable lead and obviously the sending off goes against us.

"But overall, we're a little bit disappointed that we didn't show more in possession tonight. We obviously dominated the first half in terms of territory but we didn't really create enough and we want to be better on the ball.

"Obviously, we look at our first team and we’re trying to produce players for them. We look at them at this moment in time and they're obviously top level and our players need to adapt.

"We need to work harder in possession and that's what the Development Squad is all about."

Petty could not fault the application of the players in Friday's clash with the Rams and says the squad will learn from a tough run of results of recent weeks.

"We just talked about that in the changing room," he added. "The work ethic and the attitude was the minimum requirement. That is the minimum requirement. I thought there was no problem with that tonight.

"Tonight, I just thought we lacked little bit of quality. Obviously, we would have liked some of our flair players to have got on the ball more but that's up to us as coaches to work on.

"These players, at the minute, they’ve had three defeats in a row, which they’ve probably never had in their careers. So again, it's a learning curve for them.

"We’ll bounce back because that's what we do at Leicester."