All About Minutes For Morgan

First Team
23 Jul 2017
2 Minutes
Leicester City skipper Wes Morgan stressed the importance of notching up minutes in pre-season following Saturday’s Premier League Asia Trophy tie with Liverpool.

- The Premier League Asia Trophy provided Leicester City with the chance to get some valuable game time under their belts, says Wes Morgan
- The Foxes faced top-flight outfits West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool at the tournament in Hong Kong
-  A trip to Luton is next up for City on Wednesday 26 July (7.45pm kick-off)

Having already featured in the clash with West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday, Morgan played 70 minutes during the final at Hong Kong Stadium.

A number of friendlies back in England will give the City squad more time on the pitch, as well as the chance for Craig Shakespeare to try out different stratagems, says the Jamaica international.

Speaking after the game on Saturday, Morgan said: “Probably individual magic [made the difference tonight]. It was two great goals from their point of view and we felt we couldn’t do much about it, but it was a close game.

“We had chances, they had chances but really it’s all about minutes in pre-season. We’re still trying to get our tactics together and I think most importantly we’ve had no injuries so far.

It’s about trial and error. We’re experimenting. We’ve tried two different shapes so far and I know the manager has plenty of ideas leading up to the first game of the season so we’ll have to wait and see.

Wes Morgan

“It was a good game. Both teams looked sharp and there was individual brilliance. Obviously we lost 2-1 and we’re disappointed about that, but it was a good performance and we can take some positives from the result.

“We started off great, got the first goal and put some combinations together. Liverpool have some great individuals and they cut us open with some great play at times.

“It’s all about getting more minutes for pre-season. I got just over 70 minutes today (Saturday) and a lot of players got a lot of minutes too, so hopefully it continues.”

Shakespeare’s men first face Luton at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday, before fixtures against MK Dons and Wolverhampton Wanderers follow later in the week.

Morgan added: “It’s about trial and error. We’re experimenting. We’ve tried two different shapes so far and I know the manager has plenty of ideas leading up to the first game of the season so we’ll have to wait and see.

“He’s (Craig Shakespeare) just trying to keep it as simple as possible. We’ve worked with him for a very long time and now he’s the boss so he’s implementing his own ideas. He’s keeping the spirit, keeping the togetherness and we’ll see what we can do.

 “We’re in good spirits. We’ve had a good pre-season so far. We’ve had a couple of good results and we’ll head back to England now for some more pre-season games, so we’ll see how we fare.”