Leicester City may blood youngsters in Premier League after 'excellent' showings

Some of Leicester City’s most talented youngsters may clinch a place in the matchday squad over the final fortnight of the campaign after impressing manager Brendan Rodgers.

Both the Under-23s and Under-18s have now finished their seasons, both enjoying plenty of good results across the year. But their holidays may not start just yet, with a few potentially involved in the first team for the final four fixtures.

Lewis Brunt made his Premier League debut at Tottenham just over a week ago and more of the players have been impressing Rodgers in training after they stepped up to join the first-team squad. While City’s position in the table and their desire to get into the top half may limit opportunities, Rodgers has not ruled out blooding youngsters.

“We have had the Under-23s in with us (in training) and some of the football is excellent,” Rodgers said last week. “We’ve looked to have the Under-23 team very close to the first team in terms of our ideas and how we want to work and I have seen that one or two of the players have really shown up well.

“So that could well be the case (that players step into the first team). There are one or two of those guys that maybe could be in and around it. We’ll have to see how the remainder of the season goes.”

Three academy players have been given their debuts this season, with Kasey McAteer coming on in the win over Newcastle in December before he was loaned to League Two champions Forest Green, while Wanya Madivadua and Will Alves made their first senior appearances in the FA Cup win over Watford.

Ben Nelson, Oli Ewing, and Sammy Braybrooke have been included in senior squads too. England Under-18s captain Braybrooke was involved for both legs of the Europa Conference League