James Maddison urges Leicester City players to enjoy what they were 'starved of'

Leicester City players must enjoy the downtime they were “starved of” during the season to ensure they do not suffer a slow start to the new campaign, midfielder James Maddison has said.

Starting with the Community Shield last August and finishing with victory over Southampton in the Premier League finale at the weekend, City played 58 matches in total this term. Maddison said it’s been a “gruelling” schedule.

Now, he says rest, recuperation, and time with families is just as important preparation for the new campaign as pre-season training will be, with City’s fixture list and trips around Europe draining the players over the past few months. Most of the City squad are currently away in Thailand on a post-season trip with the chairman, but will then break off for their holidays.

But not all of the players are yet able to put their feet up. While there are no international tournaments this summer, there is an extensive international schedule for the likes of James Justin, Kasper Schmeichel, and Timothy Castagne, who are among the players who will be representing their countries in the first fortnight of June.

The others, like Maddison, who was overlooked for a place in the England squad, will get a few weeks off before returning to Seagrave in late June. Pre-season training has been brought forward this year with an earlier start in the Premier League to accommodate the winter World Cup.

“It’s so important to recharge the batteries,” Maddison told LCFC TV. “If you look at the starts of seasons that teams or players sometimes have when they’ve gone far in European competitions, or even players on international duty at the World Cup or the Euros, sometimes they can have a slow start to the season because they didn’t get