Shakespeare: Foxes' Fitness Improving

- Leicester City boss Craig Shakespeare was pleased with his side's Premier League Asia Trophy debut
- The Foxes overcame West Bromwich Albion on penalties after drawing the fixture 1-1 in normal time
- Shakespeare says his side's fitness remains his top priority as City continue pre-season in Hong Kong
- Liverpool await in Saturday's Final and Shakespeare is looking forward seeing how Leicester fare

Marc Albrighton converted the decisive spot-kick on Wednesday evening after Ben Hamer saved Sam Field’s penalty to seal a 7-6 shootout victory with the match ending 1-1 in normal time in Hong Kong.

Shakespeare used the occasion to get a thorough look at his squad as 21 players featured in total for the Foxes, with Riyad Mahrez scoring their only goal of the game after 24 minutes.

Reflecting on the result, the City boss said: “It’s our first pre-season game so I’m looking at it purely from a fitness point of view and trying to get some minutes into them.

“So, in terms of that and the opposition, I’m really pleased for a first game that we managed to get 45 minutes of football into nearly everyone.”

Shakespeare was also buoyed by the application of his players in Hong Kong after making full use of the substitutes’ bench for the clash.

"The application and the desire has been excellent," he told LCFC TV. "Today was all about trying to get some fitness levels in them. It’s always difficult because of the humidity, we’ll look at the physical stats, but I’m very, very pleased with their overall attitude."

Hamer was the only unchanged figure in the Leicester line-up on a day which saw the Club complete the transfer of goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović from Hull City.

“We could only make 10 substitutions in the rules of the game, so we decided that they would be outfield players which meant Kasper Schmeichel didn’t play,” Shakespeare added.  

“We had the opportunity to bring in another experienced goalkeeper [in Jakupović]. We need cover in that situation and he’s got Premier League experience. It’s about competition for places.”  

Shakespeare was also buoyed by the support City have enjoyed in Asia this summer but is keen to stress that his players’ fitness – rather than the result – is what pleased him the most on Wednesday.

He continued: “You could see the crowd filling up. Once it got full, the atmosphere that was created was there for all to see.  

“It was about fitness but it could have gone either way in terms of the result. I think the quality of the penalties was very good, although we were fortunate with Danny Drinkwater’s.

"We know that, but we’re just pleased to go through.”