Petty: Long-Term Development The Key
- Leicester City’s Development Squad were defeated 6-1 by Crystal Palace on Monday
- The Foxes were reduced to 10-men following Lewis Brunt’s early red card
- Wanya Marcal-Madivadua scored a consolation goal for City in the second half
- Coach Ben Petty reflected on the game while speaking to LCFC TV post-match
The Eagles triumphed 6-1 at LCFC Training Ground on Monday evening, but City’s efforts were hampered by Lewis Brunt’s sending off inside four minutes of the Premier League 2 Division 1 clash, which reduced the hosts to 10 men for the majority of the game.
Despite a promising opening few minutes in Seagrave, the visitors’ four first-half goals gave Leicester an unassailable task in the second half, though Wanya Marcal-Madivadua did manage to pull a goal back late in the contest.
Speaking in his post-match interview, City’s coach felt the physicality and experience within Palace’s ranks handed them the advantage after the early red card, leading to a first defeat of the league campaign.
“We got off to a great start in the first four minutes,” Petty reflected to LCFC TV. “And then we lose a player that has been absolutely immense for us since he signed. We struggled to cope with that. Going down to 10 so early was probably the worst possible scenario for us.
“In any team, it’s a big shock when you lose a player after four or five minutes and it’s difficult to hold out for that period of time and especially at this age when you don’t really come up against that too often.
“But it was always going to be a really difficult game tonight against a very physical and powerful Palace side who are much older than us. Obviously, it was a bit too much for us in the first half and being 4-0 down at half-time, that gives us a mountain to climb as well.
“I don’t think there will be too many more physical teams than Palace in the league this season. But credit to the players, they kept trying to play the right way. I think the second half shows everyone that we were still fighting for the Club.”
Petty praised the manner in which the players conducted themselves on a tough evening and also saw the game as an important learning curve for everyone involved.
He added that they must now pick themselves up to go again on Monday 20 September when Everton Under-23s are the visitors to LCFC Training Ground (7pm BST kick-off) in Premier League 2 Division 1.
He explained: “When you’re working with players at this age, it’s about the long-term development. It’s just part of the process and we’re in this for the learning. But what we need to make sure we do is learn from it and, next Monday, we’ll see how far we’ve come.
All About The Reaction, Says Petty
Speaking to LCFC TV, Development Squad coach Ben Petty reflected on the Premier League 2 defeat to Crystal Palace and how the players can respond.
“We know we’re going to struggle physically because of the age of the team, and we haven’t got really physical players, but they’ve got to be much better one vs. one so they can cope with that physicality.
“That’s the biggest learning for us tonight. I think you could see the power and the pace that Palace had and when you’re a man down as well, it was a really tough ask for us all.
“The important thing for us is that we dust ourselves down and we believe in what we’re trying to do. And I think coming out of the changing room, they’ve still got that belief in what we’re trying to do.
“We were looking forward to tonight, we were very positive about it and the players have been training brilliantly. We need to get back on the training pitch tomorrow and prepare for next Monday, another tough test against Everton.”