Gray hopes England heroics will help end his club misery
DEMARAI GRAY has described his frustration about his bit-part role at Leicester and revealed how close he came to joining Bournemouth. The England Under 21 winger played as if he wanted to prove a point on Tuesday in a 3-0 win over Latvia, playing 90 minutes and scoring the opening goal. His importance to Under 21 coach Aidy Boothroyd is in contrast to Leicester, where he has made only three substitute appearances in the Premier League — just 33 minutes. Bournemouth tried to capitalise on that with a £25million bid on deadline day. Gray was willing but the offer was rejected. Now he hopes Leicester’s decision was based on plans to use him more but he will still hold more talks with
manager Craig Shakespeare about his situation. ‘I respect the manager but I want to play in the Premier League,’ said Gray. ‘I get so frustrated so I have to give the manager a headache.’ On Bournemouth, Gray added: ‘There were a few bids flying around. Leicester told me how they are going to use me and the impact they see me having on the team. I want to play every week.’ Everton midfielder Tom Davies was similarly relieved to play 90 minutes against Latvia on his Under 21 debut after pulling out of the Under 19 squad that won the European Championship in Georgia. ‘It’s one of the hardest decisions I have had to make,’ he said.