A Tough Night, Says Petty
- Leicester City’s Development Squad fell to a 5-0 reverse at Manchester City on Saturday
- Cole Palmer scored a hat-trick for the Citizens in the Premier League 2 clash at Academy Stadium
- Coach Ben Petty spoke to LCFC.com after the Foxes’ heavy defeat to the league leaders
- He wants to move on quickly and focus on Saturday’s home fixture against Chelsea
A Cole Palmer hat-trick, hours after he had featured in the Premier League for Pep Guardiola’s first team, alongside goals from Luca Barrington and Sam Robinson helped secure an emphatic win for the hosts at Academy Stadium.
For the Foxes, it was a first Premier League 2 defeat since September and leaves the team sitting 11th in the Division 1 table after losing out to the unbeaten league leaders. Looking back on the game, Petty felt the hosts’ individual star quality made the difference.
He told LCFC.com: “We were unfortunate in that we were hit by an unbelievable hat-trick by a lad that had played in the Premier League on the same afternoon. I think everyone’s aware of that and his three goals were stunning.
“You take him out of the equation and the game would have probably looked a lot different. We’ve reflected on it Monday morning, but we can’t reflect too much on it. We’re going to park it now and move onto the next game.”
The 44-year-old rued not taking earlier opportunities which could have altered the complexion of the contest at the break, before Man City took control in the second half.
City’s coach continued: “I think the context of the game changed when Jake [Wakeling] missed the opportunity at 1-0 to make it 1-1 when the goalkeeper is out of his goal. They go down and get the second, so instead of being 1-1 at half-time, it’s 2-0.
“Looking overall, we only conceded nine shots on goal, which led to five goals. It was clinical finishing from Man City but it was a tough night for us for sure.”
He was, however, pleased to see the return of forwards Wakeling and Josh Eppiah following injuries, the latter making his first appearance this season from the bench, playing the final 30 minutes in Manchester.
The attacking pair could play a part on Saturday when the Foxes youngsters welcome Chelsea Under-23s to LCFC Training Ground (5:30pm BST kick-off).
“Jake needed a game,” Petty explained. “We knew he was going to tire quite quickly because he hasn’t trained very much for two weeks. Josh was obviously a long-term injury so we were trying to manage both.
“Moving forward towards the weekend, they will both be involved and maybe even both play in the same team together. It’s exciting to have two of our main strikers back in the fold for sure. That should give us some strength.”