Petty Points To 'Brilliant' Young Foxes Performance
- Leicester City's Development Squad beat Southampton B 7-1 on Monday
- Jake Wakeling (3), Tyrese Shade (2), Thanawat Suengchitthawon and Cole Dasilva were on the scoresheet
- Coach Ben Petty pointed to the quality on show from City's youngsters at LCFC Training Ground
Jake Wakeling netted a hat-trick for the Foxes at LCFC Training Ground, while Tyrese Shade got two and Thanawat Suengchitthawon and Cole Dasilva also contributed on the scoresheet to secure a memorable victory for Leicester's youngsters.
It's a win which elevates City up to 11th in the Premier League 2 Division 1 standings and Petty, the Club's Assistant Senior Professional Development Phase Coach, was thrilled with the nature of their performance in Seagrave.
"It's long overdue," he told LCFC TV at full-time. "That's the standard that we've set for the lads this year. Tonight, you saw the best of our young players. We had, probably, one of the strongest teams we’ve had this season, in terms of our first and second year pros all available.
That Performance Was Coming, Says Petty
Coach Ben Petty reflects on the Development Squad's 7-1 win over Southampton at LCFC Training Ground.
"I think you've seen that quality that they've developed being with the first team. Some of the lads have been with the first team and we certainly saw that tonight. In the second half, I thought we were brilliant.
"The great thing is that lads were very frustrated with themselves at half-time. We didn't have to say too much in terms of the goal we conceded because it was a bad time to concede a goal. But I think Tyrese’s strike early in the second half sort of settled the nerves.
"I think you saw the best of us in the second half and we were delighted with the efforts tonight.
"It all came together tonight and I think that's really given us a springboard for the last three games of the season and we want to finish really strong and, there's no doubt about it, there's some real quality out there."
Leicester's Under-23s now have three games remaining, one against Arsenal and two, home and away, against Liverpool, as they look to preserve their status in the top flight. Petty says Monday's emphatic performance against the Saints can now give them hope.
"For the wrong reasons, there’s pressure on the last three games," he added. "The last two or three seasons, we've been up there fighting for it and now we've got a fight to stay in it. It's good experience for the players. If we produce what we produced in the second half tonight, then we'll be okay."