I’m Grateful To Be Back Again, Says Popov

- Leicester City’s Development Squad defeated Manchester United 3-2 at LCFC Training Ground
- Brandon Cover scored a last-minute winner in the Premier League 2 match
- Chris Popov netted the first goal of the match only three minutes in
- Up next for the young Foxes is a home clash against Everton on Monday (7pm BST kick-off)

With the Premier League 2 season drawing to a close, it’s fair to say that City’s Under-21s are in need of points and they fought back brilliantly to claim three against Man Utd.

Brandon Cover scored the injury-time winner in Seagrave, but Popov was the man to open the scoring only three minutes into the game with the Red Devils, and admits he took pleasure in scoring against his former club.

“Everyone's really happy,” the striker told LCFC TV following the full-time whistle. “I think the goal was coming. All the staff and players together, we felt like this was the game to win.

“Throughout training these past two weeks, we've been doing really well, Ben [Petty] made it clear what the game plan was tonight, and I think we did well. We carried it out and we got the result that we really wanted.

“I’m absolutely buzzing to score, especially against my old team. There's no better feeling. I'm grateful for all everyone that's helped me through my injury because it was tough, but I'm back now.

“I'm getting better, but there's still work to do. Not just myself, but all the team. We're all willing to do it and putting performances in like that today, it's only going to get better.”

Having been sidelined for a large part of the season with injury, it was a proud moment for the 18-year-old to get back to what he enjoys best – scoring goals, and he was keen to share the praise around his team-mates and coaching staff alike.

“I like to say that I take every game the same, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't feel nice,” Popov continued. “Obviously it's not the prettiest of goals, but a goal's a goal.

“Ben and Leon [McSweeney] said about the game plan about pressing with high energy, and the goal came exactly from that. So that's credit to them and giving credit to us for carrying it out.”

The win over Man Utd still leaves City’s youngsters at the bottom of the PL2 standings, with a total of 15 points for the season, therefore the forward knows that there is still work to be done, starting with another home clash against Everton next Monday.

He added: “I want to score as many goals as I can, which will be better for the team. Whether that's from pressing or whether that's any other type of goals; tap-ins, or scoring worldies. Obviously, it's been a tough season, but this will be good for the spirit and good for the confidence.

“We’ll gain a lot of momentum from this. Beating a team like Man Utd will give us a lot of confidence that I think we needed, because we haven't been playing bad recently, it's just the results haven't been going our way. It's a big result, there'll be a lot of confidence and momentum that we can take into next week against Everton.”