Leicester City told they will see striker's progress as club wait for Brendan Rodgers decision

Leicester City will see the progress George Hirst has made when they run the rule over the striker in pre-season, his loan boss Danny Cowley has said. City manager Brendan Rodgers wants to bring Hirst back into the first-team fold this summer to take a closer look at a player that finished last season with a flourish, scoring 10 goals in his final 13 starts for a total tally of 15 on loan at Portsmouth.

Rodgers knows that Hirst offers something different for his side, the striker standing at 6ft 4in, and hoped to see “a step up both mentally and tactically” from the 23-year-old. Pompey manager Cowley says City will get just that.

The hope at Fratton Park is that they will be able to take Hirst back to the south coast, but Cowley knows City want to see how the striker fares in their line-up before Rodgers makes a call over his future. Cowley told the Portsmouth News: “We’d love to have George back.

“We’re really respectful of Leicester and know he goes back and will train there in pre-season. They will rightly get a good look at him and hopefully see the progress he made. I know that they are pleased with the way we looked after him and the work we did with him, so that gives us satisfaction that clubs know their players will be looked after here. We’d love to have him back but ultimately that will be a decision made firstly by Leicester City and then George and his representatives.

“The way he developed in our environment last season, he takes a lot of credit for that. I was so proud of the resilience he showed and how hard he worked. From a coaching perspective, to see young players work really hard and get their reward is pleasing.”

Hirst has said he wants to show off the “best version” of himself during