Maddison likes Mour hard work
JAMES MADDISON knew he had arrived in the big time when he crossed the white line for his Leicester debut four weeks ago.
“Walking out at Old Trafford, 75,000, Jose Mourinho shouting at me on the sideline. It doesn’t get much bigger than that,” said the 21-year-old.
“But I wasn’t fazed by it, it felt like I belonged and that I deserved to be there.”
His performances since certainly suggest that’s the case with the Foxes midfielder.
And on Thursday, he impressed again as England Under-21s took a step closer to next year’s European Championship with a 0-0 draw against Holland at Carrow Road.
Not that he’s pinching himself about the last four weeks or, for that matter, the last four years – having made his senior debut for Coventry, moving to Norwich, going back to Coventry on loan and then to Aberdeen before joining Leicester for £22million in the summer. “I take it all in my stride,” he added. “I’ve been a confident lad since I was a boy and always believed I could get there.
“I just went a different route. I started in League One, went to the Championship and then to the Premier League, so I’ve got games in my system.
“Being in the Premier League is no different, I just go out there and do what I do and I’m loving every second of it.
“I’m not saying staying at a big club is the wrong way to do it, this is just the way I chose to do it.
“But if I can give any advice then it’s always best to play games — making mistakes in front of crowds when you’re young, you learn so much.
“If you’re just playing at the training ground you don’t get that experience, that adult football at a young age.
“I was on the bench at 16 for Coventry, I’ve always been involved in a senior set-up so it made me grow up a lot quicker.”