Debutants grab the headlines again as U23s beat Seagulls

LEICESTER City’s newest senior debutants scored to earn the Under-23s a comeback win over Brighton on Monday night.

Will Alves and Wanya Madivadua both came on as substitutes in City’s FA Cup third round success against Watford earlier this month, and with their confidence boosted by their introduction to the first team, they grabbed the goals to seal three points at Seagrave.

For 16-year-old Alves, it was another milestone, as it was his first goal at that level.

Just after half-time, with City trailing at the break, he jinked into the area then curled a shot into the far corner from 15 yards.

“I had a discussion with Will coming out for the second half,” said Under-23s coach Ben Petty.

“I said: ‘Will, to take your game to the next level, you need to score some goals!’

“It was a fantastic goal. He’s a special talent. We’ve got make sure we nurture him in the right way. His out-of-possession work was fantastic.

“I’m sure the manager will have been delighted with his efforts.”

Madivadua grabbed the second in the 87th minute, his second late winner of the season, receiving Alves’ pass, then sprinting down the right before hammering the ball off the bar and into the net.

“Wanya did that for us against West Ham and he’s come good again,” Petty said.

“We created lots of good chances in the second half and we just couldn’t quite get the ball over the line, but Wanya’s strike was emphatic and, with two or three minutes to go, it’s a great time to score.”

The win took City up to 10th in the Premier League 2 table, and they now sit three places and six points above the drop zone ahead of a trip to league leaders West Ham next week.

Petty said: “It’s certainly given us a good platform to go and take on the leaders. It’s going to be a tough game next Monday afternoon. There’s time for the lads to recover for a couple of days and get back on the training pitch to be well prepared for next week.”