Harvey Barnes makes 'difficult' Leicester City admission after scoring brace against Watford

Leicester City attacker Harvey Barnes has laid out why the team have had a "difficult season".

The 24-year-old grabbed a brace as the Foxes ran out 5-1 winners over Watford at Vicarage Road on Sunday. Jamie Vardy also scored twice after James Maddison equalised in the first half.

It was one of the side's better performances this term, which has seen City fail to qualify for Europe after back-to-back fifth place finishes in the Premier League. Reaching the Europa Conference League semi-finals put a nice gloss on the campaign, but it's a thin sheen if anything given how well they have performed in previous seasons.

After the final whistle Barnes said that injuries have hurt the team this season, none more so than Vardy's, who has missed chunks of the season with hamstring and knee issues. The winger was pleased with the result, though, and hopes they can take some positivity into next season.

“It was a tough start with the goal," he said, via the BBC. "Conceding from a set-piece, we’ve had a lot of them this season. We’ve got a good result in the end. We played good football and scored five good goals.

“We probably missed [Jamie Vardy] a little bit this season with injury. Every year he bangs goals in. We can rely on him.

“It’s been a difficult season for us with ups and downs. We’ve had injuries. [Hopefully we can] finish the season well and take positives into pre-season.”

Barnes also praised Danny Ward, who was surprisingly given the nod to start ahead of Kasper Schmeichel. “Wardy is a great lad. He’s had to be patient. He’s shown what a good keeper he is."