City Squad Train In Hong Kong For First Time
- Leicester City trained in Hong Kong on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Premier League Asia Trophy fixture with West Bromwich Albion
- The Foxes take on Tony Pulis’ men at Hong Kong Stadium (11am kick-off BST)
- Craig Shakespeare and Wes Morgan addressed the media ahead of the game
Torrential rain in the morning, coupled with high temperatures, made for a difficult first full day of work in Hong Kong, but the Foxes did not let that affect their focus.
Manager Craig Shakespeare and skipper Wes Morgan kicked-off the day with the Premier League Asia Trophy’s first press conference, before the latter headed to training to link up with his team-mates.
“It has been good,” Morgan said of pre-season so far. “I missed the last couple of months of the back end of last season which was disappointing.
“I have had plenty of time to recover and rest and I have come back into pre-season feeling refreshed and ready to go. Touch wood, but I’ve had no issues so far.”
A challenging training session saw the squad take part in some small-sided games before an 11-a-side fixture demanded everything from the Club’s stars.
Reflecting on City’s maiden Hong Kong session, winger Marc Albrighton said: “The humidity out here makes it very close and it’s difficult to play in, especially when you’re not used to it.
“It’ll be good for us and the setting is brilliant to play football in. As the week goes on it’ll get easier. Obviously, we got off a long flight yesterday, so one or two of the lads might still be suffering from that.
“We’ve travelled a lot and we haven’t seen much of the ball and as footballers, all we want to do is get on the training pitch.”
Meanwhile, as the squad headed back to their Hong Kong base, former Foxes Emile Heskey and Gerry Taggart were on hand – alongside the LCFC Community Trust – to help deliver the Premier League’s Premier Skills course.
Football fans were out in force to get photos and autographs as hundreds of Hong Kong youngsters perfected their footballing skills with assistance from a number of ex-professional players.
Heskey said: "It's been nice to see all this enthusiasm that the kids have shown. I remember coming to events like this with ex-players and getting to see them and showcase your skills.
"They've taken to us really well and Filbert Fox to be fair - he's been the star attraction!"
Make sure you stay tuned to LCFC.com throughout Wednesday for all the build-up to Leicester City’s Premier League Asia Trophy clash with West Brom (11am BST).