‘We Were Excellent’ – Petty Praises City’s Efforts

- Leicester City’s Development Squad earned a point at Chelsea following Ben Nelson’s equaliser
- The young Foxes showed fighting spirit to come back at Kingsmeadow, says Ben Petty
- It was Leicester's first draw of the Premier League 2 season
- Friday’s result sees City sit 18th ahead of facing Newcastle United at LCFC Training Ground

It took an 86th-minute equaliser from Ben Nelson to draw the visitors level at Kingsmeadow, earning a share of the spoils in the capital having fallen behind to Brodi Hughes’ opener.

“It was thoroughly deserved,” Petty reflected after full-time in west London. “I thought we were excellent in the first half, started the game really well and then went behind with a goal against the run of play. It went against us, but I thought the lads were superb in the second half and really carried on from the first.

“We talked at half-time about getting the next goal of the game and getting the momentum and we dictated the play and deserved the equaliser with Ben Nelson scoring a great header at the far post. We're pleased with that.

“The lads obviously got back to 1-1 and then really went for it. That wasn't really anything to do with me. It got a bit open, too open for the coaches, but there were a lot of tired legs out there and it became a bit of a basketball game at the end.

“The efforts that we put in tonight were just reward of a point and I think it was a fair result at the end of the day. It would have been harsh on Chelsea, but we've come here tonight, put a really good performance in and we're delighted with the result.”

Long-term absentees Chris Popov, Iestyn Hughes and Oliver Ewing all returned, gaining their first minutes of the season in what was a major positive of the evening. With two wins and a draw from the last four matches across all competitions, Petty believes the team have turned a corner in light of recent efforts.  

“I think the lads are getting stronger and we had a difficult start to the season,” he explained. “We're starting to get the players fit now and you can see out there tonight we're looking strong and the fitness levels are there, the intensity is there. We're looking like a real Leicester side now.

“We've had Chris [Popov], Iestyn [Hughes], and Oli [Ewing] come back from long-term injuries and to get them out there as well was fantastic. We capped them at 45. It was a planned change at half-time. There were no problems.

“Iestyn came on, unfortunately, he picked up an ankle knock, but we hope that's not too bad. But I thought the rest of the lads out there who played the 90 were fantastic.”

Newcastle United are the visitors to LCFC Training Ground this Friday (7pm GMT kick-off), before attention turns to plotting a route into the knockout stages of the EFL Trophy four days later.

Petty added: “I’ve just said to the players in there, we've got another game on Friday night, and then we've got Fleetwood in the EFL Trophy. We've got lots to look forward to.

“We've got a First Team that we're proud of and we're looking up to them at the minute so that hopefully the Club is in a good place, and we're trying to support the First Team as much as we can with performances like that.”