Hitting Top Gear Is The Target – Barnes Exclusive In CITY Matchday Magazine

- Leicester City and Crystal Palace to go head to head at King Power Stadium
- The Premier League fixture is a 2pm kick-off on Sunday afternoon
- Harvey Barnes sat down with CITY Matchday Magazine ahead of the game
- The Academy graduate discussed the Foxes’ recent form and season as a whole

Brendan Rodgers’ men take on Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday (2pm kick-off) as their unrelenting fixture schedule continues at King Power Stadium.

Just three days on from the first leg of the Foxes’ UEFA Europa Conference League Quarter-Final stalemate against PSV Eindhoven, Leicester are back on Filbert Way for this weekend’s top-flight encounter.

Entering the business end of the season still competing on two fronts, Barnes, speaking in the latest edition of the Club’s matchday programme, which can be purchased outside the stadium on matchday, believes this could be the perfect time to hit top form.

“We’ve got some good signs coming back into our game," the Academy graduate told CITY Matchday Magazine. “We’re playing exciting football, creating chances and scoring goals. Not only that though, we’re defending a lot better as a team now.

“We conceded some sloppy goals earlier in the season and gave away more chances than we’d have liked to, but that seems to be happening less now. When you combine all of those things together, it makes it much easier to win games. We know that we still have another gear to go into as well.”

Backed by the Blue Army, City’s home form in particular has been strong of late, improving after a challenging start to the season and providing extra confidence within the squad as they approach a tough test against the in-form Eagles, who are unbeaten in seven across all competitions.

The 25-year-old added: “It’s always important – not just for us, but for the fans as well. We have great following at away games, but it’s the home games where the majority of our fans get to watch us during the season.

“We always try to repay their support by putting on good performances, with nice football, goals and wins. We’ve been doing that recently, so hopefully it can continue.”

Just as the team appears to be moving in the right direction, the winger himself notched a goal and three assists last month and feels in a good place after injury ruled him out of contention earlier in the campaign.

“Coming back from an injury always takes time,” he admitted. “As we saw in the first half of the season, it can take time to match everything up with your fitness and match sharpness. Even if something is only slightly off, you can tell on the pitch.

“For me, it has just been a case of getting my confidence back and getting all parts of my game up to the level I know they can be at. Since Christmas, I’ve felt better and I think that has shown in my performances.

“The goals and assists are coming more regularly and I’m helping the team in that sense, which is always a good feeling. It has been an up and down season. A bit like the team’s fortunes really – it has been frustrating at times and I’ve had to be patient, but in the last few months everything feels a lot better.”