The Development Squad's Season So Far
Currently 12th in Premier League Division 1, the Foxes’ youngsters have endured a tough first half of the season, picking up a total of nine points. However, City’s players have focused on the development aspect of their game as they familiarise themselves with the men’s game.
Leicester started the season with a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, on the opening day of the Premier League 2 campaign. A Charlie Sayers own goal and a strike from Tawanda Maswanhise were cancelled out by the away side as the Foxes had to settle for a point at LCFC Training Ground.
On Sunday 14 August, Leicester travelled to Academy Stadium to take on Manchester City for their first away day of the season. Level at the break, the visitors would go on to lose the game 3-1, but Maswanhise would make it two in two for the striker.
City returned to Seagrave to pick up their first points of the season against West Ham United. Maswanhise would make it three goals in as many games while George Hirst - now on loan at Blackburn Rovers - would become the second Leicester player of the season to score, after he netted against the London club.
The Foxes carried forward their good momentum when they faced Lancashire side, Blackburn. In their best result of the season so far, four different scorers found the net in a 4-0 outing.
All the goals came in a rampant first-half performance. Centre-back Paul Appiah opened the scoring in only the second minute, before Kasey McAteer and Joe Wormleighton etched their names on the scoresheet. The match was rounded off when an in-form Maswanhise found his fourth of the season.
On Tuesday 30 August, Leicester’s youngsters made their first appearance in the Papa Johns Trophy when they were on the reverse of a 4-2 scoreline to Burton Albion. Ethan Fitzhugh and, unsurprisingly, Maswanhise netted at Pirelli Stadium.
The Foxes returned to league action on the first weekend of September, losing 4-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion. On a day where Evan Ferguson stole the headlines with a hat-trick for the Seagulls, Maswanhise would be among the goals again, making it six for the season.
In mid-September, Leicester welcomed their first opponents of the Premier League International Cup, when German outfit Wolfsburg arrived at LCFC Training Ground. In a 1-0 win for City, the only goal of the game came from, you guessed it, Maswanhise, who took his record to seven in seven.
That same week, the Foxes would be on the opposite side of a 1-0 scoreline when they were defeated by Liverpool in Premier League 2 action. Layton Stewart scoring the only goal in Seagrave.
The first day of the month in October saw Leicester travel to the capital to face Chelsea. Picking up their second draw since the opening game of the season, it was McAteer who responded twice to the Blues to ensure his side took a point.
City’s second Papa Johns Trophy game ended in similar fashion to the trip to London, as the youngsters would take two points from Bradford City, with two goals in four minutes from Will Alves and Maswanhise securing a 2-2 draw before winning on penalties to claim an extra bonus point.
Unfortunately for the Development Squad, this result was followed by a run of four losses, which started with a heavy defeat at the hands of Fulham on Monday 10 October. Oliver O’Neill netted a hat-trick for the Cottagers.
Just over a week later, the youngsters were eliminated from Group H of the Papa Johns Trophy with a 2-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday. Goals from Callum Patterson and Will Trueman settled Leicester’s fate.
Arsenal was the next side to deliver a blow to the Foxes when a Matt Smith penalty in the 84th minute cancelled out a second half equaliser from Alves.
October was brought to a close at Aggborough Stadium in Kidderminster when Wolverhampton Wanderers were 3-0 victors against City, with Harvery Griffiths, Nathan Fraser and Connor Ronan making the difference.
The start of a new month brought an end to the losing streak for Leicester, as they played out a hard-fought draw against Crystal Palace at Selhust Park, in what was a second clean sheet of the Premier League 2 season.
The Under-21s' most recent result came in the form of a 2-0 defeat to Spanish side, Valencia CF. Pablo Gozálbez Gilabert and Diego López Noguerol scoring the goals in Seagrave.
With 17 games left in the schedule, there’s still plenty of football to be played for the Development Squad, who restart their 2022/23 campaign with a home Premier League International League Cup fixture against FC Porto.