Barradell: The Players Deserve Praise
- Leicester City's Under-18s beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 last weekend
- Amani Richards and Trey Nyoni scored the decisive goals
- Adam Barradell was pleased to see the boys get back to the required level
- City’s youngsters face Southampton next on Saturday morning (11am kick-off)
After losing to bottom-placed Aston Villa, the young Foxes were keen to pick up three points when they welcomed Brighton to Seagrave last weekend.
Goals from Amani Richards and Trey Nyoni, in either half, confirmed the win and Barradell was thrilled to see such a great response from the Leicester squad.
“I thought the boys showed an excellent all-round performance,” the coach told LCFC.com “Especially defensively as a group they were committed and showed a positive mindset in carrying out the gameplan.
“To execute it the way they did on the day was excellent, to keep Brighton to a limited number of penalty box entries. I believe they had no shots on target so it's a really pleasing performance.
“In and out of possession we were excellent, especially after conceding three goals against Aston Villa, so there were some really good individual performances but as a collective we are certainly getting back to the level that we wanted.
“I think that’s two clean sheets in the last three games now and obviously three wins in the last five so an upturn in results and performances, with some players moving into the Development Squad, so there's a lot of positivity around the group.
“But we’re looking for consistency at this age, and the boys have got to try and improve on that in the next coming weeks.”
Richards opened the scoring just two minutes in with his seventh of the season, before Nyoni completed the performance with a goal ten minutes from time.
“It was pleasing to see Amani [Richards] score again,” the coach continued. ”I’ve mentioned him a few times in some real good performances in the last few weeks, and he’s pushing for a spot in the Development Squad.
“Also, it's really good to see Trey [Nyoni] get on the scoresheet with a great individual goal. He moved into the Under-18s squad just before Christmas and he’s getting to grips with Under-18s football. He’s a young boy and he’s had a good impact on the group which is pleasing to see.”
Barradell was asked if the current run of form, which has included three wins since the end of January, has sparked a boost within the Leicester camp, but the coach confirmed that confidence has always been high.
He added: “We’ve not lacked confidence throughout the year because we’re also focused on the long-term development of the players, but it’s nice to get wins which helps to breed confidence.
“As a group we’re not struggling in that department, but we want to do well and push up that league table which is really tight at the moment between the bottom and mid-table clubs.
“We’ve got our aims from now until the end of the season, individually but also as a group which we’re determined to achieve."
This weekend, the Foxes have the chance to climb further up the table when they travel to the south coast to take on a Southampton side currently one space above them in eighth.
Ahead of City’s trip to Staplewood Training Ground, Barradell says that the team have done their work on their opposition and will be ready for Saturday’s early kick-off (11am).
“We’ve looked at Southampton and how we got on in the reverse fixture and it was one that we were disappointed with,” the coach explained. “We have a collective desire to change what happened last time. We’ve got more Under-16s in the group for the game against Southampton, so again, there's a real positivity around the team.
“We’ll prepare meticulously as a group and we’ll be prepared for the game on Saturday."
All times GMT.