Petty: Young Players A Credit To The Club

- Leicester City's Development Squad secured a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday
- Will Alves and Wanya Marcal-Madivadua were on the scoresheet for City in Seagrave
- Coach Ben Petty praised the 'terrific character' on show from a youthful Leicester side
- He also discusses the two superb strikes which ultimately won the game

Two fine second-half strikes from Will Alves and Wanya Marcal-Madivadua, the latter coming with only minutes to spare, enabled the Foxes to overturn a deficit at LCFC Training Ground and cap off an impressive team display with a hard-earned three points in Premier League 2.

Speaking afterwards with LCFC TV, Petty heaped praise on the Club's young players, many of whom have stepped up from City's Under-18s side, for the relentless nature of their attacking pressure.

"I think the lads showed terrific character after going a goal down early doors," he explained. "We settled into the game and, at half-time, we just needed a bit more belief in ourselves. In the second half, we were terrific tonight. As I said prior to the game, it's a young group.

"They're still finding their feet and they just needed myself and the other staff to reassure them a little bit that they were doing okay, but they could do more. We wanted them to be a bit more aggressive in and out of possession and I thought you saw the best of our young players tonight."

A tactical change at the break involved midfielder Sammy Braybrooke dropping to a deeper position for the Foxes, who also introduced Thailand international Thanawat Suengchitthawon and youngster Joe Wormleighton in the early stages of the second period.

"I wanted to keep the same shape and I decided that I thought Sammy was intelligent enough to play that role, maybe as an old fashioned sweeper," Petty added. "We did also discuss him going in front, as the base of a diamond, so there was a lot of flexibility in the change. 

"You might say it was brave but I felt it was the right [change] and I feel confident enough in Sammy that he can do that job and I thought he was brilliant in the second half. Than's missed a bit of time because he's been on international duty and he really showed his quality when he came on.

"I think that was Joe's debut in the Under-23s. He's been excellent in the Under-18s and he gave us some real energy and it allowed us push Wanya into his favoured no.10 position. It's a squad game now and all those lads out there tonight were a credit to the Club."

Alves, who is just 16, got on the scoresheet for Leicester to level the scores, cutting inside his man before riffling a superb strike into the bottom corner. Petty says the Club will continue to work closely with the young striker, who made his senior debut late on in the Emirates FA Cup earlier this month.

"I had a discussion with Will coming out for the second half," he continued. "I said: 'Will, to take your game to the next level, you need to score some goals!' It was a fantastic goal. He's a special talent. We've got make sure we nurture him in the right way. His out-of-possession work today was fantastic. 

"I'm sure the manager will have been delighted with his efforts tonight."

Marcal-Madivadua, on the other hand, was the match-winner for City's Under-23s, with a powerful strike, teed up by Alves, which cannoned off the crossbar and into the back of the net.

"Wanya did that for us against West Ham and he's come good again tonight," Petty said. "We created lots of good chances in the second half and we just couldn't quite get the ball over the line, but Wanya's strike was emphatic and, with two or three minutes to go, it's a great time to score."

City’s Development Squad meet PL2 leaders West Ham United at Rush Green on Monday (4pm GMT kick-off) in their next Premier League 2 Division 1 clash. Their coach now hopes this win can inspire confidence in the group ahead of a clash, which is sure to be a big test for the side.

"It's certainly given us a good platform to go and take on the leaders," he added. "It's going to be a tough game next Monday afternoon. There's time for the lads to recover for a couple of days and get back on the training pitch to be well prepared for next week."