YOHAN CALMS IT DOWN
Big Ben’s stopped bashing his pals
CRAIG SHAKESPEARE says Yohan Benalouane has saved his Leicester career by laying off his team-mates.
Shakespeare has revealed how the 30-year-old Frenchman used to leave his fellow Foxes battered and bruised in training while he was out of the first-team picture.
But the Leicester boss believes centre-back Benalouane has revived his fortunes by calming down.
Benalouane, a £5.6m signing from Atalanta in 2015, was farmed out on loan to Fiorentina in January last year after failing to impress former boss Claudio Ranieri.
He was left out of Ranieri’s 25-man Premier League squad at the start of this season with his future at the King Power Stadium looking bleak.
But he is now in contention to play in the Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid next week after stepping in for injured captain Wes Morgan for three Premier League wins.
“He has adjusted to the Premier League,” said Shakespeare. “He was probably over-aggressive sometimes in training and as the referee I would pull him up.
“But he has listened and taken it on board.
“He has remained competitive but has become assured in his performances as well.
“In training he has become more composed this season.
Missing
“His performances in training have improved greatly and he wants to improve.
“I had no doubts that he could perform at this level.”
Morgan has been missing with a back problem, having started the previous 88 games in the Premier League. Another game on the sidelines for the skipper at Everton on Sunday would leave Benalouane in pole position to face Atletico in Madrid next Wednesday.
The former St Etienne centreback has impressed in the wins against West Ham, Stoke and Sunderland alongside 32-yearold Robert Huth.
“He has always stayed positive, I will give him credit for that,” said Shakespeare.
“Sometimes when you are not playing for as long as him you can get frustrated, but he stayed very positive.
“I spoke to him three weeks ago about being ready and focused, and I think in his performances he has been very assured.”