Thomas Braced For Pre-Season Opener In Burton

- Leicester City face Burton Albion at Pirelli Stadium in pre-season on Saturday (3pm kick-off)
- The Foxes have been in summer training at LCFC Training Ground for the past fortnight
- Luke Thomas believes City's players are ready to begin their pre-season fixture programme
- He also provides an insight into the training methods being deployed in Seagrave

The Foxes head to Pirelli Stadium for a 3pm kick-off against Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's Brewers in the Club's first pre-season friendly of the summer – a clash which will be available live and for free on LCFC TV from 2:30pm on Saturday afternoon.

Academy graduate Thomas, who made 25 appearances in all competitions for City last season, netting two goals, has joined his team-mates in Seagrave this summer to begin the Club's 2021/22 preparations. 

"It’s been a good start," the England Under-20s international told LCFC TV. "The gaffer said this morning we’ve had a good 10 days or so and we’ve deserved a recovery day, so that’s a positive.

"We’ve looked really good and sharp so far I think, especially in the heat, as it’s so hot. Getting used to that was hard, but we’re getting through it each day, day by day."

On the day Thomas spoke to the Club's in-house TV station, the squad had enjoyed a change in pace as they took park in yoga and water polo sessions, something everyone enjoyed, the 20-year-old says.

"It was a good laugh with the lads," he added. "We had three teams and played a mini tournament of water polo, which was good. I enjoyed it myself, so I’m sure the other lads did as well.

"And our team won!"

Now, though, all focus is on Saturday's trip to Staffordshire and, after incremental building in the intensity of training, Thomas believes Leicester are ready to commence their pre-season fixture schedule.

"Throughout this week, we’ve built it up towards Saturday," the Syston-based left-back continued. "On Monday, we did a little mini 11 vs. 11 against each other and again yesterday, where we did two 15 minutes.

"It was good and I feel like my fitness has built throughout the first 10 days quite quickly, considering we’ve been hit quite hard. That’s only a benefit for us. It’s always going to help on Saturday and in games and we go into the game as fresh as we can be so we’ll give our all."

While this will be City's first friendly of the summer, Saturday's encounter will be Burton's fourth, but Thomas is confident that their fitness work in training will help them adapt to the challenge.

"It always is different playing a friendly game against opposition that you’re not very used to," he explained. "They’re a lower league side, but a very good team, and we’ll go there hoping to win the game.

"We’ve built a lot of fitness ourselves as a group, so we’ll go into the game in a good way, so we’ll show our fitness and build that throughout the pre-season games we’ve got."

All times BST.