Petty Expecting ‘Tight’ Tottenham Battle

- Leicester City’s Development Squad are up against Tottenham Hotspur on Friday
- Coach Ben Petty looks ahead to the Premier League 2 Division 1 encounter
- Both teams sit in precarious positions in the league table
- It ended all square when they met in the reverse fixture earlier this term

The pair face off at Lamex Stadium on Friday evening (7pm GMT kick-off) with plenty at stake, as the Foxes sit at the foot of the Premier League 2 Division 1 standings, six points behind Spurs, who are two points from safety themselves.

Leicester, due to face Manchester United in Monday’s postponed fixture, were denied the opportunity to try and bounce back from a run of three straight PL2 defeats, but preparations for their next encounter have not suffered as a result.

“We’re looking forward to the game,” Petty confirmed to LCFC.com this week. “Obviously, it was disappointing [not to play] on Monday, but everyone’s geared up to try and get a result on Friday.

“It didn’t change too much; we were always in every day this week with it being a two-game week. We’ve trained well, and we’ll prepare properly as we usually do. Everything is as normal.”

Taking positives from their two recent showings at LCFC Training Ground, both of which were decided by a single goal, City’s coach knows that form on the road must improve from the last outing – a heavy defeat at Liverpool.

He continued: “The last few games have all been very close apart from the Liverpool game, which was obviously a blip, but against Blackburn and Wolves, you could see how competitive it is in this league.

“It’s been settled really on minor details – a penalty against Wolves, and a very early goal against Blackburn. But there was nothing in the games. I would expect a very tight game on Friday with a lot on it for both teams.”

The likes of Ethan Fitzhugh, Sammy Braybrooke and Will Alves all remain out with long-term injuries, though goalkeeper Brad Young was welcomed back earlier this month following his loan spell at Notts County, providing further competition for Chituru Odunze between the sticks.

The 45-year-old explained: “I think obviously with the amount of injuries that we’ve had to key players, it’s been good to get more development in some of the younger players. I think we’ve seen some really positives performances.

“Deniche [Hill] coming into the team in January, Jahmari Lindsay and Logan Briggs from the Under-18s too, and there may be one or two of the Under-18s involved on Friday as well. It’s very much about the development, but of course we want the result against Tottenham.

“[Young] has been excellent. We’re very fortunate that we’ve got two top goalkeepers for this level. I think you saw Brad’s quality against Blackburn despite being on the losing team.

“He was outstanding and he really gave a lot of confidence to the lads. He’s a great character to have around the dressing room.”