Leicester Boss Hails Iheanacho But Has One Complaint About Super Eagles Striker

Published: August 02, 2018

Leicester City coach Claude Puel has praised Kelechi Iheanacho following his impressive performance that saw the number eight open the scoring in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Valencia.

The Nigeria international netted from close range in the 11th minute, taking his tally to two goals in his last two matches in pre-season, having struck against Udinese last weekend.

Iheanacho did not begin pre-season with The Foxes as he was given an extended break due to his commitments with the national team in June, and Puel has admitted that the striker has not been up to scratch in terms of his fitness.

''I think he came back with a good mentality, of course he cannot play for a long time at the moment with good fitness levels,'' Puel told Leicester City's website.

''I’m happy about the mentality of the players. They’ve come back with a good spirit and with a fighting spirit.

''I’m happy about this, but we needed to make attention and protect them with rotation and to work on their fitness step by step.''

Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi were substituted at half-time against the Spanish opponents, while the young Nigerian striker Layton Ndukwu entered into the fray in the 63rd minute.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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