Beaglehole: A Good Performance On The Whole
- Leicester City's Development Squad played out a 1-1 draw with Arsenal Under-23s at LCFC Training Ground on Monday
- Coach Steve Beaglehole outlined his satisfaction with the young Foxes' performance against the Gunners
- Although he believes City could have been more clinical in front of goal in order to take all three points in Seagrave
- Leicester travel to face Liverpool Under-23s on Monday afternoon in the penultimate Premier League 2 Division 1 fixture of the season
The young Foxes were forced to come from a goal down to rescue a point at LCFC Training Ground thanks to Thanawat Suengchitthawon's second half strike, though Beaglehole felt City should have won the game, based on the overall performance, had they been more clinical in front of goal.
In his post-match interview with LCFC TV, Beaglehole revealed his admiration for the way the team performed throughout the contest with the North London side, who sit one place and four points ahead of City in the current standings.
"I was very pleased with the lads," the coach commented. "I thought we started the game really, really well, created a lot of chances, hit the woodwork twice I think [in the] first half and had some really good chances.
"I'm disappointed with the goal we conceded, it was poor defending, one straight ball that cut us open, but the response was really good. I thought there were some outstanding individual performances. I thought Sidnei [Tavares], for example, was top, top drawer.
"And I said to the lads after, a result like that is a decent result. I'd said at half-time, if we can keep a clean sheet in the second half, I'm sure we'll come away with at least a draw. I thought there were periods in the game when it looked like we were going to take it, take all three points.
"But we just couldn't get that second goal and to be fair to them, they were resilient. They rode their luck at times, but I thought it was a very good game, not your normal Under-23 game, there were some really ferocious tackles going in from both sides and it was competitive.
"And as always, they have good players, they have athletic players that can hurt you on the counter, but I thought we dealt with that very, very well out of possession, the shape was good. I couldn't ask for any more."
City's Under-23s welcomed back several players who had gained experience within the first team squad in recent weeks and Beaglehole believes they have made a big difference to the way the Development Squad has played in the last two games, including in the 7-1 victory over Southampton.
Goals: Leicester City U23s 1 Arsenal U23s 1
Enjoy the goals from LCFC Training Ground as the Club's Development Squad played out a 1-1 draw with Arsenal Under-23s on Monday.
The 60-year-old continued: "Again, if we had kept the clean sheet we'd have won and it would have been a fantastic result. But they've got to learn that clean sheets do win you games and we've not had too many of them this year.
"There's still an odd mistake here and there, but the players that have come back into it that had been with the first team have made a massive difference.
"Last week we saw it and that team, that group of players would be at the top of the table, around the top, like they have been for last couple of years and they are all under 21, there's no over-age players.
"So when we can put out that sort of side they're as good as anybody and they've proved that, not so much last week where they were very dominant. But Southampton were not in the same class as the opposition tonight, to be fair. And I thought we were the better team and we're very unfortunate not to win the game."
The result maintains the team's 11th-place position in the Premier League 2 Division 1 standings with two games to go, the first of which sees Leicester travel to face Liverpool Under-23s at Liverpool Academy on Monday (12pm kick-off).
"We know the importance of staying in the league, we've never been out of it," Beaglehole added. We've always been in the top flight and we're desperate to stay in there.
"And if they keep going as they've been doing, they've been excellent in training, and we can field that sort of team, I'm very, very confident that we'll still be in that league.
"We've got two matches to go against Liverpool, home and away. They've got to go to West Ham twice, so it's pressure, it's pressure on the lads.
"But it's good because you know that if they're going to play in our first team, or in anybody's first team at a decent level, it's about winning and it's about dealing with pressure and targets that you set them.
"So, all in all, a good night's work and two good games that we've played now, four points in the last two games at home and eight goals scored, two conceded. So they're quite good stats."
All times BST.