Leicester City opened their 2020/21 pre-season campaign with a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City on Wednesday afternoon.
Brendan Rodgers opted to travel to the West Midlands with a youthful squad and gave minutes to plenty of academy prospects.
The Foxes controlled proceedings and deservedly took the lead in the second half thanks to a confident finish from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The experienced Marc Albrighton, who was one of only three first-team players on the pitch at the time, made it two after he closed down Birmingham goalkeeper, Zach Jeacock, and deflected his poor kick into the back of the net.
‘They were very, very good’
Rodgers was quick to praise his young squad after the game and he pointed out their impressive ability to learn the team's playstyle after what was an accomplished and dominating win.
Talking to LCFC.com,he said: “It was excellent. First our young players, we’ve worked with them a lot of these past few months and you can see when they come in they understand the style and the method of our play and they were very, very good.
“Of course our players that are regulars have shown a great attitude and a great work rate and overall it was a perfect exercise for us. It’s always nice to win even if its pre-season.”
Up and coming midfielders
After what was a great performance from all academy players, Rodgers singled out both goalscorer Dewsbury-Hall and Sidnei Tavares.
The two central midfielders stood out and caught the eye of the Foxes boss. He said: “He’s [Dewsbury-Hall] a very good player, he went on loan last year to Blackpool and scored some goals so he has that ability from midfield to get into the box and score.
“Sidnei Tavares in the first half I thought was outstanding. He’s got real quality and real talent and we’ve now got to bring him up to the level where he’s a working talent and to have that hunger when he hasn’t got the ball.”
‘I’m absolutely delighted’
Ahead of the game, it was announced that Leicester City had extended the contract of striker Jamie Vardy. The Foxes legend joined James Maddison in signing a new deal with the club.
“I’m absolutely delighted,” Rodgers said. “Obviously for Jamie, it speaks for itself. I’m so happy he’s in our team, he’s one of the leading strikers in world football so it was very important to extend his deal and he'll be a big part of what we do over these next few years.
“As will James Maddison at the other end of his Premier League career, coming into it as a big talent and now he must show that ambition and desire to keep improving. For both, those boys to continue to work here of course makes me really happy.”
