Flynn Encouraged Ahead Of Brighton U21s Trip
- Brighton & Hove Albion are up next for Leicester City’s Development Squad
- The pair meet in Premier League 2 Division 1 on Monday (3pm kick-off)
- Shane Flynn spoke ahead of the game against the south coast outfit
- He felt the Foxes deserved more from their draw with Celtic in midweek
The Foxes drew 2-2 with Celtic at LCFC Training Ground on Wednesday evening, in their final Premier League International Cup group stage fixture, coming back from two goals down to bring the contest level courtesy of strikes from Paul Appiah and Kian Pennant.
Although it was a game Flynn felt City should have claimed three points in, to conclude their cup campaign on a high, he saw plenty of signs that they are heading in the right direction.
“It was an enjoyable one,” the defender told LCFC TV. “We implemented a different style of pressing, going gung-ho and just going all in and man for man. I think, we saw the fruits of our labour in the sense that we won the ball back high up quite a number of times.
“That was what we were talking about pre-game to try and do and [we had] plenty of chances, which, to be honest, unfortunately, we can't say for much of this season. While we didn't get the win, there's positives to take.
“This is important because if you keep looking at everything negatively, you know you're going nowhere. Tonight, the lads have put the hard work in, the hard yards. Now it's all about just adding that little bit of quality and trying to kill teams off.
“I was saying to the lads after the game, if we have one of them games tonight where everything goes right, I think we score six or seven there. We had so many chances - and good chances. They weren't pop shots from maybe 25-30 yards out, they were good chances in and around the box.”
Showing that grit and determination, as well as quality in the final third, is serving the side well after a tough first half of the season. Leicester sit 13th in Premier League 2 Division 1 as things stand, with one point from their opening three matches of 2023.
City's Youngsters Rescue Celtic Draw
Enjoy the best of the action from LCFC Training Ground as the young Foxes hosted Celtic in the PL International Cup.
The Republic of Ireland youth international explained: “I think, in the last few weeks, to be honest, there's been a change in mentality between the team and the coaches. We sat down after the Chelsea game, and we spoke honestly between the group.
“We can see that it means more in training now. It means more in games. When we go behind, it hurts us. We were annoyed at half-time in the changing room and we came back out and obviously they've got a second goal.
“But again, we didn't let the heads go down, which maybe earlier in the season, at times that's happened. It's a great reaction and, to be honest, I think Celtic can count themselves lucky that they've come out of that with a draw because we should have won the game.
“As I said, we had a plethora of chances before and unfortunately we didn't take them, but there's positives for sure.”
Acknowledging the need for City’s youngsters to start collecting more league points, the full-back believes recent results, and performances, including the goalless draw against Manchester City last time out in PL2, can act as a springboard to do just that.
A desire to right the wrongs of the reverse fixture against the Seagulls – a 4-1 defeat in Seagrave back in September, is also playing on the players’ minds heading down to the AMEX Elite Football Performance Centre for Monday’s 3pm kick-off.
Plenty Of Positives For Flynn
Shane Flynn takes stock on Leicester City's performance in this week's 2-2 draw with Celtic's Under-21s.
“We didn't do ourselves justice here earlier in the season," the 21-year-old admitted. "I spoke to you after Brighton and everyone remembers that game. We were very frustrated with ourselves, disappointed in ourselves in the days after and straight after the game.
“So, we need to do ourselves justice going down there on Monday. The lads were brilliant against Manchester City. Unfortunately I couldn't play, I was injured, but I was watching it and I was proud watching the game. We just need to take that in the next game.
“A hundred per cent [there's] positives to take to Brighton and [we'll] try and get a result. We need results because the table doesn't lie. We haven't shown what we're capable of this season. If we can go down to Brighton and get a result, we can push ourselves back up the table.”
All times GMT.